A New Survivor?
by SR89
Summary: A teenage girl washed up on the beach. Scared and damaged, can she be helped? And can her sudden arrival help those around her?
1. Ellie

I've never done one of these before so any comments or reviews you can give me will be more than welcome! Hopefully I can get the second chapter finished as soon as possible and put it up. Thanks for reading!

* * *

_She had never been on the sea when it was this rough before. She felt a knot of terror inside her as she fastened the life-belt around her waist. Was this how her family had felt all those months ago? This overwhelming feeling of uncertainty and fear? Her grandfather had assured her that the life-belt was just a precaution, nothing to worry about. Everyone got into storms occasionally and they were both experienced yachtsmen. But the knot twisted tighter inside her with every wave that crashed against the side of the yacht. _

The early morning sun shone over the camp as Sawyer stepped out of his tent. He stetched and took in the view. Nothing but beach and ocean, same as there always was. Except, on the rocks there was a piece of...something. It looked like it might be a piece of tarp. Something like that could be useful on an island where a water-tight shelter was one of the most precious things anyone owned. He was willing to bet practically everyone would be willing to trade for this, given the damage that last night's storm had caused. He pulled on a t-shirt and set off along the sand to check it out before anyone else.

_The last thing she remembered was trying to help her grandfather secure the rudder. With only tiny glimmers of moonlight to see by, and with 20 foot waves crashing over the side of the deck, she felt his hand on hers as he tried to pull her below deck, and to relative safety. The wave that hit the boat next swept her high off the deck, and crashed her down onto the deck again which such force that she was knocked unconscious. She didn't even feel the second wave, dragging her off the yacht and into the vast expanse of ocean surrounding it. Waves thrashed around her as she floated listlessly in the dark, her life-belt reflecting the occasional light from the moon.

* * *

_

Sawyer strolled purposefully towards the rocks, determined to claim his find before anyone else woke up and tried to challenge him over it. But as he got nearer he saw that it wasn't a tarp at all, just some useless piece of cloth that would be no good to anybody. He was about to turn around and head back to his tent when he heard a tiny cry. He glanced around him, wondering if Claire or Charlie had taken Aaron for a morning stroll. No-one was around, the only movement was back at the camp on the beach where people were fetching water and beginning their days. He turned to walk up the beach and join them when he heard it again, clearer this time. He looked towards the rocks, and the piece of cloth. As he approached it nearer, and realised what it was he was seeing, he felt something near to panic rise in his throat. "SOMEONE GET JACK!" he yelled as he ran over the rocks.

She hurt all over. Everytime she tried to move pain shot through her shoulder. She wanted to yell for help, but she couldn't make a sound. She heard something in the distance, similar to footsteps. "HELP ME!" She screamed inside her head, but all that came out of her mouth was a tiny cry of pain. Nothing, no response. She gathered all the strength in her body and tried again. Suddenly she heard a man yelling and quick, heavy footsteps heading towards her. A blond-haired man brushed her hair away from her face and stared at her. His eyes flicked up and down over her body as she lay in front of him. People came up behind him, a dark-haired man ahead of them. He knelt beside the blond man and touched her gently on the shoulder. Pain shot through her, she screamed as it overtook her body and she sank into unconsciousness

Jack and Sawyer stared at the girl, amazed. She looked about 15 years old and was wearing a pair of white sleeveless pyjamas. A black bruise crept around her obviously dislocated left shoulder. Her brown hair was streaked with blood from the two inch long gash on her forehead. Her arms were covered in smaller bruises, cuts and scratches. Around her neck was a tiny necklace, the name 'Ellie' glinted in the sun. A crowd formed around them, they could hear whispered panic - _"Is she an Other? Is she one of them?"_.

"We have to move her to the hatch" Jack said under his breath so that only Sawyer could hear him.

"You kiddin' Doc? She could be one of them and you're gonna take care of her?" Sawyer's response was incredulous. How could Jack even consider putting the rest of the camp in danger?

"Sawyer, look at her, she's just a kid. An injured little kid in white pyjamas. You seriously think she's one of them?" When Sawyer didn't reply Jack turned to the rest of the group, searching for Kate. She was stood mere inches behind him, straining to hear their whispered conversation. "What do you think?" he asked her.

"How badly hurt is she?" She moved nearer to the girl's unconscious body so that her voice couldn't be heard.

"I can't tell until I examine her and I can't do that on the beach. She needs to be moved to the hatch." Kate nodded in agreement. Jack gingerly slid his arms under Ellie's body and effortlessly lifted her. With Kate leading the way he set off across the beach towards the jungle and the path towards the entrance of the hatch. He heard the crowd behind him, yelling over each other to ask Sawyer who the girl was, what she was doing there, what Jack and Kate were going to do with her. Sawyer shrugged, he had no more clue to Jack's motives than the rest of them. He resignedly headed back to his tent, ignoring the indignant shouts behind him.

* * *

Mr. Eko was sitting on his bunk in the hatch, reading one of the battered novels from the bookcase. If he was at all surprised by the unexpected entrance of Kate and Jack with an injured teenage girl he showed no sign of it. He stood up and helped Jack to settle the still unconscious girl onto the bunk. Kate stood back, waiting for Jack to tell her what to do next. Eko took his book and sat in the living area of the hatch. He reopened his book but made no move to read it. He watched over the edge of it as Jack ran his hands over Ellie's shoulders, wincing as he felt her dislocated shoulder. He lightly pressed his fingers against her ribs and her pelvis; nothing felt broken. Her legs, though bruised and scratched seemed uninjured too. He knew it would be better to fix her shoulder before she gained consciousness, as the pain of having her arm pushed back into it's socket would surely make her pass out again. He glanced at Kate and gestured for her to come help him.

"I need you to hold her here..." he placed one of her hands on Ellie's collarbone, "..and here..." the other hand he placed on the girl's ribs. "You have to hold her as firmly as you can, I'm going to pull her arm into place. Ready?" He couldn't risk her waking up in the middle of this procedure. Kate hesitated for an instant, then nodded. She increased her grip on Ellie and Jack began to pull her arm away from her body. Even in her unconscious state Ellie stirred. Jack pulled harder and suddenly felt her shoulder slip into it's socket. Kate felt it too and released her grip. Jack rested Ellie's arm on her chest and checked her pulse. As he did he felt a tiny ridge running across the inside of her wrist. He turned her hand over to reveal a scar, vertical up her wrist. It was surrounded by an intricate pattern of smaller scars, all in various stages of healing. Kate held Ellie's other hand up, showing the same network of white lines decorating the inside of her arm.

She silently laid Ellie's hand beside her on the bunk and stepped away. She leaned against the wall of the hatch, staring at Jack and the girl. Jack glanced at her questioningly and stood up. He was about to ask her what was wrong when Ellie began to whimper. Her fists clenched as she dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands and clutched at the fabric of the bunk's blankets. She tossed and turned on the bunk, crying through her unconsciousness.

Jack felt Kate's body stiffen next to his and he turned towards her. She was transfixed on Ellie and had tears in her eyes. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her body as she watched the girl, silently sobbing. She turned her head slightly and looked at him. As their eyes connected, it was as if they were asking each other one question:

_"What had happened to this girl?"_


	2. Pictures

Kate jumped as the countdown began. She got up and walked towards the computer, entering the numbers slowly and pressing 'execute'. Kate looked over towards the bunk, where the teenage girl lay; Jack leaning over her, carefully bathing the two-inch gash on her hairline. Her face was dirty from the ocean, with stark white paths down her cheeks from her tears. She had cried through her unconsciousness for what seemed like hours. Now though, it seemed like she was just sleeping; she had curled her thin body into a foetal position, knees tucked close to her chest. She was guarding her right arm, and her fists were clenched as if she were having a bad dream.

Jack stroked Ellie's hair into place so it covered the cut. It wasn't very deep so didn't need stitches. He was glad, stitches weren't easy to do on the island, and even if he could manage to find a needle and some thread, it would cause way too much pain to be worth it. Jack gathered the pieces of cloth he had used to bathe her wound and stood up. He turned to find Kate standing behind him chewing nervously on her bottom lip, her right hand twisting a lock of hair.

"How is she?" she asked, looking over his shoulder at Ellie's sleeping body.

"I think she's OK. Pulse seems normal, same with breathing. And I think her shoulder will be fine, if a little sore for the next few days." Jack answered, turning on the faucet and holding the blood-stained cloths underneath the stream of water.

"Do you think she's one of them?" Kate's eyes didn't stray as she asked the question that had been on both their minds since bringing Ellie to the hatch.

"One of them?" Jack turned off the faucet and wrung out the cloths. "I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, her wrists-" Jack was interuppted by Hurley hurrying into the living area of the hatch. Charlie was hot on his heels, carrying a black and white duffel bag, adorned with several strands of seaweed.

"A bunch of stuff washed up on the beach - we thought it might belong to...I mean, it might be hers, right?" Hurley said breathlessly,

"Her name is Ellie." Kate stated, relieving Charlie of his treasure and setting it all on the worksurface.

"Right, sorry, well we thought it might be...Ellie's...stuff. It's kind of weird actually, mostly clothes but there was this..." Charlie said, reaching into the duffel and pulling out a leatherbound book. He handed it to Jack, who opened it and lay it out in front of them. Jack and Kate stared at the contents of the book, amazed by what they saw.

"DOZENS MISSING AFTER OCEANIC FLIGHT DISAPPEARS"

"SEARCH STILL ON FOR FLIGHT 815"

"MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD, THE PASSENGERS OF OCEANIC FLIGHT 815"

"MEMORIAL HELD AS SEARCH IS ABANDONED"

They silently turned the wet pages of the book, staring at the dozens of newspaper articles, all painstakinly cut out and pasted into the book. Halfway through was an article torn from a local newspaper. In the centre of the page there was a copied photograph of a smiling family; mother, father and between them a teenage girl. She had light hair like her mother, eyes like her father. The caption underneath read: "TRAGIC: Siobhan and Eric Monroe, missing, with their 16 year old daughter Eleanor."

Jack and Kate looked up.

"I told you it was weird," Charlie said, reaching over the worktop and turning the page, "But _that's_ even weirder." They looked down at the book to see what Charlie was talking about. Staring up at them were rows and rows of pictures, each with a name underneath. Kate's picture was in the top corner, third from the left. Underneath, in small bold lettering, were printed the words, **Austen, Katherine**. Futher down the page they saw Ana Lucia's picture, Sawyer's picture, then Locke's. Everyone who had been on the plane was pictured on the next few pages of Ellie's book. The pages that followed showed sympathy and condolence cards, notes from people expressing their sadness at "the loss of two wonderful people".

A noise from the bunk attracted everyone's attention. On the bunk, still curled up, Ellie was awake.


	3. One of them

No-one moved, no-one _could _move; it was as if they were all rooted to the floor. Ellie, a few feet away was blinking her eyes rapidly, as if she was trying to adjust to the light, and to where she was. She tried to sit up but winced as she put her weight on her injured arm. Colour drained from her face as pain shot through her. Jack, jumping into doctor mode, moved towards her. She shrunk backwards away from him, as if he was planning on hurting her.

"It's ok...I'm a doctor. I'm not going to hurt you," he said, holding his hands up to show her he didn't have any weapons. She didn't need to know that he carried a gun in the back of his jeans. He approached her cautiously and knelt down by the side of the bunk. Ellie huddled as far into the corner as she could reach; terrified and visibly shaking. "My name's Jack. Your shoulder was dislocated but we fixed it." Ellie's eyes darted from Jack; at whom she had been staring; and focused on Kate, Charlie and Hurley. Kate walked towards the bunk and crouched down next to Jack. Charlie and Hurley, still cemented to the spot, exchanged glances.

"I'm Kate. You don't have to be scared of us, I promise we aren't going to hurt you. You're called Ellie, right?" Ellie's eyes widened when she realised that they knew her name. "Ellie...I promise you're safe here. We won't hurt you. Do you understand that?" Kate looked at Ellie, her eyes connecting with the terrified girl's. They were a shining emerald colour, something neither Kate nor Jack had noticed before. Ellie stared back, and made the tiniest nod of her head. Kate gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Good. Now I'm guessing you might want something to eat or drink?" Ellie's eyes flickered to Jack, whose head had turned sharply towards Kate. "Ellie...? Are you hungry?" Kate rephrased her question? Ellie nodded. "Thirsty?" Another nod. "OK then. I'm just gonna go over there and find you something." Kate stood up, closely followed by Jack. She walked to the kitchen area and began opening cupboards, pulling out random boxes and cartons of food which had been stored there for those on "button duty".

"What do you think you're doing?" Jack's voice was an angry whisper. He caught hold of Kate's arm when she didn't answer.

"She has to eat, Jack." Kate answered simply, her voice also hushed,

"You can't be serious? You want to feed this total stranger...a stranger who could be one of _them_?" Kate shrugged his hand off her shoulder.

"She isn't one of them Jack, you know as well as I do. But she _is_ a person and if we don't give her food or water she isn't going to do too well, is she?" Jack was silent. "And besides, maybe this will get her to trust us enough that when we ask her who she is, she'll be able to answer without being so scared she shakes!" Kate slammed a bowl down on the counter, making Hurley and Charlie; who had been standing silently watching Jack and Kate's discussion; practically jump out of their skins. Ellie too, over on the bunk, made a tiny yelp at the sound of the bowl hitting the worktop.

"Here..." Kate said to Charlie and Hurley, sliding the bowl, some fruit and two knives across the counter. "...make yourselves useful." She faced Jack, "You too" she said, handing him a glass and reaching past him to turn on the faucet.

"I don't get what you're trying to do here, Kate." Jack stood motionless.

"What I am trying to do..." Kate answered evenly, "...is get a terrified kid to trust me. And if you won't help me then I'll do it myself." She took the glass out of his hand and filled it with water. Holding the glass in her right hand and picking up the bowl; which was now filled with peeled slices of fruit, courtesy of Charlie and Hurley, she joined Ellie on the bunk. She placed the bowl in front of Ellie, who had now inched forward slightly, and was sitting cross-legged on the bunk, her arm held protectively across her lap. She took the glass of water from Kate, and cautiously held it to her lips, suddenly more thirsty than she had ever been before. She gulped down the water, and then handed the glass back to Kate.

"Thank you." She whisper, her tiny voice croaking out the words. Kate started at the sound of Ellie speaking, but recovered her composure quickly, and smiled at the teenager.

"You're welcome," she said, casting a glance over her shoulder towards Jack, who was speaking to Hurley and Charlie in hushed, urgent tones. Kate slid the bowl of fruit closer to Ellie. "Eat up," she said, "and then maybe we can talk." Ellie nodded as she picked a slice of mango between her finger and her thumb. She hesitated for a second before taking a bite. Kate smiled at her and went into the kitchen to refill the glass.


	4. Belief

It had been five days since Ellie had washed up on the island. Kate had barely left her side, and Jack had left the hatch only twice. People kept dropping by, hoping to get an answer to one of the many hundreds of questions that were rife throughout their camp. But so far, no-one knew more than they had five days ago, when Hurley and Charlie found the scrapbook in Ellie's duffel bag. Kate and Ellie had developed a kind of friendship and over the days Ellie had volunteered harmless, innoculous pieces of information that built a picture of a happy, well-adjusted teenager with a boyfriend and friends who she spent every waking moment with. The only things she never mentioned were her family, and how she came to be on the island.

Jack still couldn't understand why Kate wasn't pushing Ellie to talk. He himself had tried, only to be greeted with tears from Ellie and angry words from Kate. Yesterday he had gotten angry with Ellie when she stared at him blankly and had yelled at her to tell them what had happened. Kate had slapped him around the face before ordering him to leave. He smarted whenever he thought about it. Even though he knew, somewhere deep inside him, that Ellie wasn't on of the others curiosity still burned within him; a desire to know how exactly Ellie, the daughter of two people who had been on the very same flight as him, Kate and the rest of the survivors, had come to wash up on the same island that they had crashed onto. It was beyond coincidence, even for the island.

Ellie had discovered the computer on her first walk round the hatch. Oddly, thought Kate, she hadn't asked what the hatch was, or why it was even there. Ellie had sauntered all round it, carefully avoiding the computer and jumping out of her skin when the alarm sounded. Since then she had gotten used to the sound but she still tried to make sure she was as far away from the computer as possible when it went off. Kate had told Ellie as much as she knew about the computer and the hatch in general, something which made Jack burn with anger, but Ellie's disinterest in her surroundings was obvious. The only thing which really caught her attention was the bookcase, packed with dusty old volumes. She had lingered, with her fingers rested on the crackly old spines and looked questioningly at Kate, and then at Jack. Kate seemed more willing to go along with her, Ellie thought, whereas Jack seemed less trusting. She didn't understand it really, she should have been the one not trusting them, instead she felt totally at home, and completely safe with them.

They all ate together, and had done for the past two days. Jack still felt reluctant to join them, but at Kate's request he was always seated at the table with them. Ellie was mostly silent while Jack and Kate kept up most of the conversation. Today however, it seemed as if Ellie had decided to talk.

"Jack?" she asked, placing her bottle of water on the table. Her eyes were fixed on her lap but she could feel him staring at her. In all her time in the hatch she had never initiated a conversation with him. With Kate, yes, but Jack...she was still slightly fearful of him. Jack looked from Ellie's bowed head towards Kate, who shrugged.

"Yeah?" he answered, his face as much of a question as his words,

"My bag...the one that washed up?" Ellie raised her head slightly but still avoided his eyes. "I had a scrapbook inside it. I mean, my grandfather and I made it...he wanted me to have it. Did you find it?" Finally Ellie looked at Jack, her eyes meeting his. The sheen of her unspilled tears was reflected by the light. Seeing her, looking so vulnerable, Jack understood why Kate found it so easy to trust Ellie; why she was so willing to take care of her even though she had no clue as to who the girl really was. He couldn't say no.

"Yeah, it was in your bag. Just a sec." Jack wiped his hands down his pants and stood up, walking towards the computer. He reached underneath it and pulled out the thick, leatherbound book. He brought it back to the table and placed it in front of the teenager. With shaking hands she reached out and turned it around, so that it was facing her. She opened it slowly and traced her finger around the headlines which had been pasted over the pages of the book. As she turned the pages, tiny tears slid down her face. When she reached the page with the image of her parents, it was as if the floodgates had closed. She stopped crying and faced Jack and Kate, who had been sat watching her.

"My parents - " she said, pointing at the image. " - Eric and Siobhan Monroe. He was a stock broker, and she taught 3rd grade at a specialist school. They got married in College, but didn't have me until they were in their thirties. On the weekends she would read the New York Times and he would read The Wall Street Journal, and then they would swap over. Thursday was Family Night, we'd all make dinner and watch a movie and then just talk. They liked to do crossword puzzles. That's why they were in Australia; they won first prize in a crossword puzzle competition. Two weeks in Sydney with expenses paid. They took their honeymoon in Sydney, figured it was fate - winning the vacation the same year that they celebrated their 25th anniversary. They wanted to take me, but I had exams at school, and besides-" she paused but didn't take her eyes off the two people staring back at her,

"-what kind of couple wants to take their kid on a second honeymoon? I was in school when I found out what had happened. The principal's secretary came and handed a note to my English professor. I had to go to his office and when I got there there was this guy, wearing some fancy suit, and a woman who tried way to hard to get me to like her. I didn't understand what was going on, I thought maybe I had done something wrong. But then this guy starts telling me that they had lost the plane that my parents were on. It had just disappeared about four hours before and they couldn't find it again. I just looked at him, I think he thought that I'd lost it, but I hadn't. Disappeared didn't mean that they _wouldn't_ find it, I asked what they were doing and he said they had search parties and stuff like that. I said that that was good, and then asked if I could go back to class. Now they all looked at me like I was crazy. But I guess they couldn't do anything because the next thing I remember is being back in my English class, freaking out because we were supposed to be analysing some poem by this random lady. It was about flying..." Ellie's voice trailed off as she flipped pages in the book, past the pictures of all those who had been on the flights, further than Jack or Kate had had courage to look. She stopped at a page where a sheet of notepaper had been pasted. It was covered in neat black writing. Ellie span the book around so Kate and Jack could read what she had written.

**Flying inside your own body, by Margaret Atwood**

Your lungs fill & spread themselves,  
wings of pink blood, and your bones  
empty themselves and become hollow.  
When you breathe in you'll lift like a balloon  
and your heart is light too & huge,  
beating with pure joy, pure helium.  
The sun's white winds blow through you,  
there's nothing above you,  
you see the earth now as an oval jewel,  
radiant & seablue with love.  
It's only in dreams you can do this.  
Waking, your heart is a shaken fist,  
a fine dust clogs the air you breathe in;  
the sun's a hot copper weight pressing straight  
down on the think pink rind of your skull.  
It's always the moment just before gunshot.  
You try & try to rise but you cannot.

Underneath the poem Ellie had written: "My grief lies all within, And these external manners of lament Are merely shadows to the unseen grief That swells with silence in the tortured soul. William Shakespeare."

Jack and Kate looked up from the page, and stole glances at each other. Ellie's gaze was once again fixed on her lap.

"Ellie..." Jack began, but she cut him off,

"Please don't. Please, you wanted to know who I was and now you do. Can that just be enough for now?" Without waiting for an answer she snapped the book shut, and tucking it underneath her arm, she left the table and walked towards the bunk. She placed the scrapbook tenderly underneath the pillow, then sat on her bed, combing through her hair with her fingers.

"Kate..." Jack said, turning to face her, "I believe her. But it's still not enough."


	5. The First Move

"I want to go outside."

"And good morning to you too," Jack yawned in reply. Ellie stood obstinately in front of him, dressed in a too-big pair of jeans and a turquoise t-shirt. Jack took in the outfit and raised an eyebrow.

"What? I'm supposed to wear pyjamas outside? You're the one who gave me back my bag. And I finally managed to get the smell of the ocean out of them." It was strange how much lighter Ellie seemed, Jack thought, since she had finally spoken about her parents. Even though it had only been two days before, she seemed to walk taller, speak more confidently. And she had stopped crying in her sleep. The only thing which hadn't changed was her stubbornness. Apparently, when Ellie Monroe made up her mind to do (or not do) something, no-one had a chance of changing her mind.

"You can't go outside." He finally replied, noting that Ellie's bare foot was tapping impatiently.

"Why?"

"Because." Jack answered, wracking his brains for a reason why as he sidestepped around her and wandered through the hatch

"That's not a reason." Ellie shot back, following Jack closely, "Why can't I go outside?"

"Because..." Jack glanced again at Ellie's bare feet, "You don't have any shoes!" He answered triumphantly. Ellie, however, smirked at him, turned on her heel and skipped over towards the bunk. Her duffel bag was resting on the floor at the end of the bed. She knelt down and rummaged inside it; finding a pair of socks. She waved them at Jack, and he couldn't help but grin at her as she slid on her belly underneath the bunk to retrieve a ratty pair of trainers; the only footwear that had been in the duffel bag when it washed up. Since then other items had been found along the shoreline; a dog-eared teddy bear, some sodden books, and various pieces of clothing. Ellie hastily pulled the socks on, and shoved her feet into the shoes without undoing the laces. Then she stood up, hands on hips.

"What's your next excuse?" she asked him cockily. Jack sat down on the couch, rubbing his hand over his face.

"I don't know if you're ready yet..." He answered. Ellie opened her mouth to protest but Jack interupted her, "And I don't know if everyone else is ready yet." Ellie looked as if all the air had gone out of her. She walked over and sat next to him on the couch, her hands clamped underneath her denim-clad thighs.

"Maybe I need to make the first move? Show them all that I'm not what they think I am; that I don't have 666 tatooed on my skull." She was only half-joking but Jack smirked.

"You sure about that one?" He laughed at her as she threw a sofa cushion at him.

"Seriously though. I have to go outside sometime, I can't live in here forever. C'mon don't be such a chicken. Bite the bullet." Her voice was light and sing-songy as she teased him. Jack felt himself smiling as he listened relented,

"I'll make you a deal. You can go outside..."

"To the beach." Ellie intervened matter-of-factly,

"...to the beach, if you tell me why you were on a boat in the middle of the ocean." Jack glanced over at Ellie, convinced she would refuse to talk. Her whole face had changed; before she had exuded energy, her cheeks had glowed a healthy pink and her green eyes had been sparkling. But now her face was white and her eyelashes were spiked with tears.

"My grandfather thought it would be a good idea to get me away for a while. He taught me to sail when I was little and it's not like I would have gotten on a plane anyway. We weren't going anywhere special...just...away." She swiped away at a tear which was making its way slowly down her cheek, then stood up and made her way defiantly through the hatch.

"Are you coming or not?" Jack heard her call. He sighed. This girl was so confusing...


	6. Parenting

Jack stood at the edge of the beach camp, watching the world as he knew it go by. Ellie stood timidly a half-step behind him. All the way from the hatch she had been full of life, excited to be out of those few rooms and enjoying the fresh air. She'd been like a little kid, running left and right, straying repeatedly from the makeshift path, even trying to climb a tree before Jack sternly reminded her that it wasn't such a good idea given that her shoulder still hadn't had a long enough time to heal. They had chatted all the way there; Jack had been quite pleased when Ellie struck up the conversation. Ellie was totally at ease with Kate and had been for days, but with him she had still seemed slightly reserved; so when she asked him when his birthday was, he had grinned as he answered her. They had laughed and joked and made fun of each other all the way to the beach, but as soon as Ellie felt the sand scrunching underneath her trainers she had fallen silent. Now, surveying the beach camp it was as if all of the work which Kate, and he, had put in had gone to waste.

"You ok?" He asked her,

"Yeah of course." Ellie snapped. "Sorry. It's just, I guess I was under some stupid illusion that they might be here. I know you and Kate said you didn't recognise their pictures but...I don't know. I should just accept that they're gone and get on with my life. Sorry." She looked up at Jack and tried to grin, but the doctor recognised her fear.

"Worried they won't like you?"

"A bit. You didn't at first." She answered, her eyes back on the beach.

"Who says I do now?" Jack joked, trying to lighten the mood. To his immense relief, Ellie laughed.

"Ok. Let's do this." She said, setting off purposefully down the verge to the camp. Jack followed and spotted Kate filling water bottles. He grabbed Ellie's wrist, careful to avoid her scars, and led her over. Kate looked up at the sound of footsteps on the sound and saw the two approaching figures. One she recognised easily as Jack, but the other...it took her a few seconds to realise that the teenager grinning at her was Ellie. She grinned back and hugged her, eyes casting a thousand questions to Jack over Ellie's shoulder.

"We thought we'd take a walk." he shrugged in answer. Kate held Ellie at arms length.

"You ok?" She asked, concerned. Her gaze took in the still healing cuts and scratches over Ellie's face and arms. The ominous bruise from her dislocated shoulder was fading and now lurked out from under the sleeve of her t-shirt, a pale shade of green.

"I'm more than ok." Ellie answered, her grin not leaving her face. "It's so good to be out in the air again. Even if I do have sand in my shoes already." Kate laughed, and Jack smiled to see them both so happy. It was quite strange to see how well they got on, despite being practical strangers. And now Ellie had gotten back to what he presumed was her normal self, they actually looked quite similar. He watched them laughing together as Ellie removed her shoes and socks and wiggled her toes in the sand. Was that a burst of pride inside his chest? He didn't have a chance to think more about it, as he noticed Sawyer coming up behind Kate, an empty water bottle in his hand. As usual he was shirtless, and Jack could have sworn he saw Ellie do a double take as she saw him.

"New friend there Freckles?" He asked jokingly, leaning into the water trough to fill the bottle.

"Sawyer, meet Ellie." Kate answered, barely turning around to address Sawyer face-to-face. Sawyer stood to his full height and looked at Ellie.

'No way,' he thought to himself, 'No way is this the kid that washed up. She had looked so...awful...and now she looked like any other teenager.' He realised Kate was waiting for him to say something, and Ellie's eyes were flickering worriedly between Jack and Kate.

"Nice to meet you Driftwood." He finally said, stretching his hand towards her. She took it, her small hand enveloped in his. Surprisingly her handshake was firm, as if she was used to meet-and-greets. As they shook he noticed the faint white lines decorating the inside of her wrist. She saw him looking and hastily dropped her hand.

"Driftwood?" She said, her left eyebrow raised sarcastically.

"Yeah, you know, cos you washed up?" Sawyer explained, as if he were addressing a four-year old.

"Yeah, I get it. It's just that, from what Kate told me, I was expecting something more original." Ellie quipped. 'I'll show him who's the child' she thought obstinately. Sawyer guffawed loudly, clearly finding it hilarious that this tiny teenager was brave enough to play him at his own game. Jack and Kate looked at each other, both amused at Sawyer meeting his match in Ellie. Ellie turned towards Jack.

"Where now?" she asked. "I'm bored of this guy." The corner of her mouth turned up in a secret grin as she looked at Jack.

"Well actually I have to go see some people..." Jack answered,

"Do some medical stuff. Ok. Go be brilliant. I'll take a look around?" She looked at him for permission.

"You could come with me? I can introduce you to some people?" Kate interrupted. Ellie looked from Sawyer to Kate.

"Only if you promise they're more interesting than this guy." She gestured to Sawyer, who looked annoyed yet amused at the same time.

"I'll do my best." She answered, picking up her filled water bottles and leading Ellie across the beach, leaving Jack and Sawyer stood together. Sawyer watched Jack as he stared after them.

"Bet you're lovin' this ain't you Doc?" Sawyer asked.

"She's a good kid," Jack answered, but Sawyer shook his head.

"Not what I meant, though you're probably right."

"So what _did_ you mean Sawyer?"

"Playin' mommies and daddies with Freckles. Right up your alley ain't it." Sawyer looked across the beach, to where Kate was introducing Ellie to Rose and Bernard. Rose envoloped the girl in a warm hug, and Sawyer noticed as Kate seemed to swell with pride. "Seems she don't mind neither."

"Whatever you say Sawyer." answered Jack, walking in the direction of Claire's tent. He hadn't checked on the baby in a few days. Sawyer watched him leave, then swiped his hand through the cold water in the trough.

It was only as Jack reached Claire's tent and saw Charlie playing with the baby while Claire tidied away his things that he actually registered what Sawyer had been saying. 'Do I really think of her as my daughter? And Kate as my wife?' he questioned himself. Turning his head to watch Ellie jumping waves with Vincent the dog, and Kate stood 'sinking' on the waterline that he realised. In a way, _he did._


	7. Angst

'It's strange,' Ellie thought as she reclined on the sand, 'how you can be so happy, and then something totally unexpected comes along and destroys your life so much you don't want to live. And then just as suddenly, something else could turn it around again. It doesn't feel normal, but it is. This is my life'. She sat up straighter and pulled on her socks and shoes. She had something to do.

Jack and Kate were sat a few feet away, chatting with Claire and Charlie. Aaron was lying on the sand between them all, giggling at something only a baby could ever find funny.

"How's she doing anyway?" Charlie asked them, remembering Ellie's first day on the island, how terrified and broken down she had been. Jack glanced over at Ellie, and answered -

"Surprisingly well. She laughs a lot, and she's talkative. Just not about her past."

"Are any of us?" Kate interposed, and the foursome exchanged looks. They knew what she meant, everyone had secrets - why should Ellie be forced to tell hers? Aaron started crying and Claire lifted him up to her chest, making quite shushing noises. She and Charlie stood in unision; Claire gently bouncing the baby while Charlie stroked the back of his head. The cries didn't stop and Claire smiled apologetically.

"Sorry guys," she said, before turning and walking back to her tent. Charlie followed, making a 'what can you do?' gesture with his hands. All the same, he looked happy. Kate turned to Jack, but he wasn't looking at her.

"Where'd she go?" Jack asked and it was then that Kate noticed that Ellie was no longer sitting on the sand. In fact, there was no sign of her anywhere on the beach.

"I don't know. She was just there." Kate said, allowing Jack to help her to her feet. They looked around them, searching for the turquoise t-shirt she was wearing. Nothing.

"Ellie!" Jack called out, "Ellie?" Kate clutched at his arm

"She was right there, Jack. Where did she go?"

"Sawyer?" Ellie rapped her knuckles on the tree branch which was serving as Sawyer's tent pole. A grunt issued from within, and she pulled aside the blue tarp. As her eyes adjusted to the change from bright sunlight to virtual darkness, she could just about make out his figure, sat in an airline chair. He was reading a tattered book; what she had no idea as the front cover was missing.

"You want somethin' Driftwood?" Sawyer asked, and Ellie jumped. She had been so interested in Sawyer's makeshift home that she hadn't noticed him talking to her

"Um. Yeah, I did." Ellie answered, blushing. Standing there, under his gaze, it made her strangly uncomfortable. He gestured for her to take a seat on the floor. She refused with a shake of her head, and finally remembered why she had left the beach to see him. "I wanted to apologise. For earlier." Ellie tried not to notice Sawyer's eyebrows raise practically to his hairline. "I get sarcastic when I'm nervous. And, you know..." She made a tiny shake of her wrist, to demonstrate her point. Sawyer made a barely noticeable nod.

"Yeah, I get it Driftwood. S'none of my business what you wanna do." His eyes returned to his book, clearly he thought they were done. Obstinately she sat cross-legged on the sand next to him. Sighing he put down his book.

"What now?"

"I also wanted to thank you. For finding me," she elaborated, seeing confusion fleet across his face.

"Look, Driftwood, if it hadn't been me it would have been some other guy. I didn't do anything special so I don't need no thanks"

"But it _was _you!" Ellie interuppted, exasperated. "Jeez, first I try to apologise and you cut me off, and when I'm trying to thank you, you won't accept it!" Sawyer held his hands up in mock defeat. Ellie continued,

"If it had been anyone else, I would be in _their_ tent thanking _them_. But it wasn't anyone else, it was you. So I'm thanking you. So just say 'you're welcome' and I'll go." She got to her feet and stood in front of him. Sawyer picked up his book, and tried to pick up where he had left off.

"Fine." Ellie said, disappointment lacing her voice. She turned and was about to leave the tent when she heard Sawyer's gruff Southern drawl;

"You're welcome." Ellie smirked, but didn't look back. Instead she reached out and pulled back the tarp.

"See you around Sawyer." She said, before leaving his tent.

She was just there." Kate said, allowing Jack to help her to her feet. They looked around them, searching for the turquoise t-shirt she was wearing. Nothing.

"Ellie!" Jack called out, "Ellie?" Kate clutched at his arm

"She was right there, Jack. Where did she go?"

"I don't know Kate. She must have just gone for a walk." Jack answered, trying to control the feeling of desperation clawing at his chest. Kate's fingernails dug into his forearm; she was terrified for Ellie.

"ELLIE!" he yelled as loudly as he could.

"What?" came the teenager's voice from behind him. Both Jack and Kate spun round and saw Ellie standing there, with a puzzled look on her face. Before any of them could say a word, Kate swept Ellie into a tight hug. Ellie's expression changed from bewilderment to pain.

"Ow!" She winced and immediately Kate released her grip. Jack sprang into action, casting his doctor's eye over Ellie.

"Are you hurt?" he asked her anxiously,

"Duh...my shoulder? What's wrong with you two?" Ellie took a step backwards, looking from Jack to Kate, and then back again.

"Where did you go?" Kate asked, and if Ellie wasn't mistaken there was an angry tone to her voice.

"I went to talk to Sawyer, what's the big deal?" Ellie answered, staring back at Kate. 'What the hell is going on?' she thought to herself, 'Who do they think they are?'

"You should have told us, we were worried," Jack told Ellie, seeing the look on her face.

"Why? So you could come with me, hold my hand?" She snapped back sarcastically. "I'm not a child, I can take care of myself."

"Ellie we were worried about you! We didn't know where you were, anything could have happened to you!" Kate tried to reason, laying a hand on the teenager's arm. Ellie shrugged it away, angry now.

"And why should you care if it had? I don't need constant monitoring and taking care of! I'm not a child, I'm not _your_ child so for God's sake stop acting like you're my parents!" Jack and Kate were both taken aback by Ellie's sudden outburst. They stared at her; eyes shining with tears of anger and sadness combined, flushed cheeks. Her shoulders were shaking and her breathing was quick and shallow. She gulped.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, before turning on her heel and running as fast as she could, across the beach and into the jungle. Jack and Kate barely had time to look at each other before they set off after her.


	8. Reasoning

Ellie ran, as fast as she could through the jungle, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. She could hear Jack and Kate behind her, trying to keep up and at the same time calling her name over and over again, begging her to stop running away from them. She turned her head slightly to see how far away they were. Her foot caught a tree root and she suddenly hurtled over, landing heavily on the ground. She tried to sit up and catch her breath, but she couldn't. She was crying too hard. Her eyes went fuzzy, everything around her was going black when suddenly Jack and Kate were there, crouching in front of her. Jack placed his hands firmly on her shoulders and stared into her eyes.

"Ellie listen to me. You're having an anxiety attack." Ellie's shoulders heaved as she panicked, trying desperately to gasp in air. "Ellie! I promise you, you're going to be fine. You just have to calm down. Breath in through your nose, and out through your mouth. Slower, take it nice and easy." Jack refused to break eye-contact with the terrifed teenager as she struggled to control her breathing. Kate was kneeling on his left, both her hands tightly clasped around Ellie's shaking one. Gradually Ellie's breathing started to slow down.

"Good girl," Jack assured her, releasing his grip. He gently brushed her hair away from her face, noting that her skin was returning to more of it's normal colour. Ellie turned to look at Kate, who was still grasping her shaking hand.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. Kate shook her head,

"It's OK. You don't have to explain."

"I want to."

Jack and Kate hadn't really done anything wrong. But seeing them standing united in front of her, it had made her remember and to remember hurt more than she would have ever guessed was possible.

"About a week before my parents left for their vacation I broke curfew." Ellie began. She, Jack and Kate were back in the hatch. Jack and Kate were in each corner of the sofa. Ellie had her back leaning against Kate and her knees tucked up to her chest. Kate was slowly stroking Ellie's hair. Ellie took a deep breath and continued.

"It was a school night and I was supposed to be home by 10.30, but my boyfriend was home for the weekend and we went to this club. I guess we lost track of time. When I got home they were freaking out, calling me irresponsible. It was stupid, I know it was stupid, but I flipped out and started yelling at them. I'd never done anything like that before, we always got on really well but suddenly we were in this huge fight and I was yelling at them, and they were yelling at me and then they started yelling at each other, it seemed like it went on for hours." Ellie paused to wipe away the tears which were soaking her cheeks.

"The next day, for the whole week, it was like there was this huge great...elephant in the house with us and no matter how many times I tried to apologise it was like they were looking at this totally different person. They were so disappointed and they looked so hurt all the time. So I stopped trying to make it up and I ignored them too. I figured I shouldn't be the one to keep trying when I'd always apologised about a hundred times." Ellie coughed, wheezing slightly. "I'm ok." She said to Jack, as he leaned forward, putting his hands on her knees.

"They came into my room on the day they were leaving to go to Australia. I wouldn't even talk to them. I didn't say goodbye. I never said goodbye to them and now I'm never going to get to see them again. They're dead and I never even said goodbye!" Ellie collapsed into sobs, her shoulders heaving and the loud, broken cries echoing all round the room. Jack took one of Ellie's hands in his. He turned it over, revealing the scars he and Kate had seen on Ellie's first day on the island.

"Is that why...?" His question hung half-asked in the air. Ellie's sobs stopped abruptly but she didn't pull her hand away. Instead, she used her free hand to brush her hair out of her eyes. And then, ever so slightly, she nodded.

"I didn't mean to kill myself. Not really. I just wanted it to go away. Everytime I breathed, or spoke or thought it was if someone was reaching inside me and twisting my heart in knots. I didn't want it to hurt anymore." Jack looked up and locked eyes with Kate. Both her arms were wrapped tightly around Ellie's shoulders, and she had tears in her eyes. She looked back at him, their eyes connected as Ellie continued.

"Everyone thought that I was mad for believing that they were coming home. 'Poor Ellie, refusing to accept what everybody knows already.' But I didn't have anything else to cling to; I _had_ to believe that they were coming home because then it didn't mean that I had let them die without telling them how much I loved them."

"Ellie," Jack said, speaking for the first time since they had gotten back to the hatch. "They knew."

* * *

I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who has read and reviewed this story. It seems to know exactly where it is going; hence the quick updates. I'm glad people like it and reviews are _always_ welcome. Sarah x 


	9. Gifts

"Is she asleep?" Kate whispered over Ellie's head. Jack nodded, relieved.

"Yeah," he answered. "And her breathing's finally back to normal." He reached out and brushed Ellie's hair away from her face. The teenager's eyes were closed, her eyelids fluttering as she dreamed. Her arms were folded tightly around her body, and her knees were still bent up to her chest. She looked so peaceful that Jack didn't want to wake her.

"I thought so." Kate replied. She had felt Ellie's breathing change, from shallow and rushed to slower and deeper. She had felt Ellie's body relax as she leaned with her back against Kate. She had felt her finally gave in to sleep, trusting Kate and Jack to keep her safe. Kate sighed. It had been a long day, a long week. Jack noticed her rolling her shoulders and eased himself off the sofa. His legs felt numb after sitting for what felt like hours, consoling and comforting Ellie. She hadn't wanted to talk much, instead answering any questions in monosyllabic phrases, punctuated by her sobs. Jack slid his left arm between Ellie and Kate, the right underneath her crooked knees.

Slowly he lifted her, carefully so as not to disturb her. Kate followed closely as he walked over to the bunk, the teenage girl sleeping peacefully in his arms. Kate turned down the blankets and Jack set Ellie down, pulling the blankets up over her chest. Ellie shifted, adjusting to the cool sheets rather than the warmth of Kate's body. Her hand was cast over her face, her fingers twining through her hair; a habit she had even in sleep Jack noted.

He felt Kate shaking next to him; glancing over at her, he noticed she had goosebumps. Without thinking he put his arms around her, trying to warm her up. She responded by wrapping her own arms around his waist. They locked eyes, neither of them needing to say anything. Jack could feel Kate's heart beating heavily, she could feel his.

"Kate." Jack whispered, barely audible.

"I know." She answered.

Ellie murmured in her sleep, turning onto her side. They jumped apart, as if they had been shocked by electricity. Kate blinked rapidly, trying to clear her mind. Jack tenderly brushed away a strand of hair from her forehead; just as they had both brushed Ellie's hair out of her eyes.

"Goodnight Kate."

"Goodnight Jack."

"Hey Driftwood, where you hidin'?" Sawyer's southern drawl echoed around the metal walks of what had been Ellie's home for just over three weeks. She heard his heavy footsteps as he wandered through the rooms, searching for her. She slid her t-shirt, an orange one, over her head and tugged it down so it covered her stomach.

"Just a second," she called out. Checking her hair in the bathroom mirror she turned and opened the door, stopping abruptly when she saw Sawyer standing mere inches away from her. "Hi." She said, confused. She hadn't seen him since the day she flipped out on the beach, almost two weeks ago. She had been out again, with Kate, with Jack, with the both of them, but they had been careful to steer her away from the main camp. A kind of protection, she figured. It was sweet.

"Yo Driftwood?" Sawyer clicked his fingers in front of her face to get her attention. She snapped out of her daydream and looked at him. He needed a shave, she decided. And a change of shirt. And a haircut.

"What are you doing here?" She said, sliding past him and walking towards the bookcase in the living area. Sawyer followed, swinging a rucksack in his hand.

"Bought you a gift. Figured seeing as you hadn't ventured back to the beach I might as well bring it to you. Mountain...Mohammed, you get the gist." Sawyer threw the rucksack onto the sofa. "Happy housewarming, I guess." He said, grinning at her.

"A gift? You bought me a gift?"

"You gonna stare at it or open it?" Ellie flopped onto the couch and unzipped the rucksack. She looked into it and smiled, before pulling out a moth-eaten teddy bear with no ears, one eye and only two legs.

"Einstein!" she laughed, hugging it tightly. Sawyer raised an eyebrow.

"Einstein?" Ellie poked her tongue out,

"Yes, Einstein. Shut up." She said, seeing that Sawyer was smirking at her. "I can't believe you found him! Where _did_ you find him?"

"Bunch of your stuff's been washing up ever since you got here, there's more in there." Sawyer took a seat beside Ellie as she continued to dig eagerly into the ruckack; coming up with a black and white polka dot make-up purse, a few dog-eared books, a diary and a pair of glasses.

"This is so cool Sawyer, thank you."

"What's 'so cool'?" asked Jack, entering the living area, Kate closely behind him.

"Sawyer found a bunch of my stuff on the beach!" Ellie smiled, holding up the bear.

"I didn't know you wore glasses." Kate gestured to the pair sat on Ellie's lap.

"Just for reading. And at least mine are a whole pair!" Ellie smirked, pointing at the pair hanging from Sawyer's shirt pocket.

"Watch it Driftwood." Sawyer growled, trying to hide the fact that he was smiling.

"Ok so I'm gonna go and out my stuff away before He-man decides to kill me. Thanks again though." Ellie grabbed her stuff awkwardly in her hands, then leant over and kissed Sawyer on the cheek. "See you later." She said, turning around and leaving the living area; Sawyer, Jack and Kate stunned into silence. Sawyer cleared his throat, standing up. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small orange pill bottle.

"I didn't want to say in front of her, but I found these in with the make-up." He held open his hand for Jack to take the bottle. Kate leaned over Jack's shoulder,

"What's 'Welbrutin'?" She asked, Jack turned the bottle slightly, reading the name on the prescription label. _'Miss Eleanor Monroe, D.O.B: 21/3/89'_. He took a deep breath before answering Kate's question,

"It's an anti-depressant."

"Well what's Driftwood doing with antidepressants? Sawyer asked, confused to see Kate and Jack exchange worried looks.


	10. I dare you

Ok so this chapter was hell to write. I've been _really_ busy with school and a pantomime, hence why this is being published at stupid-o'clock when I should be in bed asleep. BUT I just wanted to say thank you to those who have reviewed, cos it's really nice to know people are actually reading my story. Now I'm going to bed. Enjoy chaper 10! ..

_

* * *

"What you got there Driftwood?" Sawyer came up behind Ellie. She had been sat in an impossibly bent up position on the beach for almost three hours, absorbed in a book. She was wearing the glasses he had found, they made her look scarily intelligent, and a lot older than he knew she was. _

"_Emma_."

"Nice to meet you I'm Sawyer." he said, holding his hand out to her, smirking.

"The book, stupid." Ellie waved it at him, her finger crooked between the pages to save her place. "Jane Austen? A classic?"

"You stick your tongue out when you're concentrating." Sawyer said, changing the subject. He sat down next to her on the sand and leaning over her shoulder. "It's in French. You understand this?" He asked, staring at the foreign language.

"_Mais bien sur!" _SeeingSawyer's confused expression she giggled. "Mostly. I lived in Paris for a few months; got pretty good. I found this in the hatch, Jack said it would be ok to take it." Sawyer looked across the beach, annoyed to hear Ellie speaking about Jack as if he was in charge of her

"Did you hear I'm moving down to the beach?" She asked him, noticing his face when she mentioned Jack.

"Bunking with Freckles, right?" Sawyer nodded his head in the direction of the Kate's tent. She, Jack and Sayid had been working for most of the day to make Kate's tent bigger; to accomodate the extra person. Ellie smiled as she saw Kate ordering Jack and Sayid around.

"Who else would I 'bunk with'? I barely know anyone here! I mean, Jack and Kate obviously, and you. But other than saying 'Hi' and 'Have you seen Jack or Kate or whoever,' I haven't exactly been Miss Sociable since I got here." Sawyer smirked again.

"You know you stick your tongue out when you're concentrating?" He had noticed this when she was reading; she had a habit of poking the tip of her tongue out whenever something in the book got interesting.

"I've been told." Ellie put her book down on the sand and unfolded herself, streching her legs out on the sand. "I'm bored."

"So go help." Sawyer answered, stretching out beside her.

"I'm not allowed. Something about my shoulder not being strong enough yet...I don't know I wasn't really concentrating when Jack was talking to me. I didn't want to help anyway, I'm not exactly great with the home renovating."

"That so Driftwood?"

"A couple years ago I decided to put some shelves up in my room. By myself. While my parents were working. By the time they got home I was ankle-deep in water from where I hit the water pipe, and it cost my dad nearly $400 to get someone to fix it. He was SO mad but my mom thought it was hysterical. Said it reminded her of when the bought their first house and she did the exact same thing" Ellie was giggling and Sawyer laughed. It had been a month since he had found her, and he had discovered that listening to her laugh made him smile. She was like a little kid in some ways; when she smiled, when she laughed, when he caught her turning cartwheels around the hatch living room at 3am, "cos I was bored!", but at other times it was like she was a grown-up way before her time. He guessed it was losing her parents that had made her that way, sometimes when she smiled it was obvious that on the inside she was crying. Thankfully those times were now few and far between, and here she was, actually volunteering a story about her parents.

"Sawyer? Are you even listening?" Sawyer snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her. With her glasses perched on her nose, and her eyebrows raised she looked like a stern librarian, about to shush him for rustling pages too loudly.

"What?"

"_Excuse me." _Ellie said. "Manners don't cost anything, Sawyer. I was saying...can we go for a walk?" Blinking, at her playful scolding of him, Sawyer grinned at her.

"And where exactly do you wanna go?" He asked her.

"Anywhere."

* * *

"Back up a bit there Driftwood, I told Kate I'd have you back in one piece." Sawyer held his hand out to Ellie, palm upwards to steady her.

"I don't need babysitting Sawyer, I wanted company. And I'm fine where I am." Ellie said obstinately, delicately placing one foot in front of the other as she tiptoed along.

"Where you are is dancing along a cliff-edge above deep water."

"I would hardly call this a cliff. We're what? 5, maybe 6 metres up? It's nothing!" Ellie sing-songed, stepping a half-foot closer to Sawyer. "Happy now?" She cast a glance at him, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Delirious." Ellie stopped suddenly, and peered over the cliff edge. Sawyer automatically stepped towards her and grabbed her arm. She turned her head and looked up at him. "Fancy a swim?"

"Driftwood..." Sawyer warned, and Ellie grinned at him, poking her tongue out.

"I thought you were supposed to be the cool one? Live dangerously!! Ellie stood upright. "I dare you."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I dare you. I dare you, Sawyer, to dive off and come swimming with me." Ellie bent down and pulled off her shoes and socks, balling the socks into the toes of the shoes and then throwing them as far as she could over the edge. They landed safely on the side of the lagoon beneath them. "Shot!" Ellie crowed, hands lifted above her head in victory. She glanced sideways at Sawyer. "Are you scared?"

"Get real. I just don't think Jack's gonna be too impressed when they find out I let you go cliff-jumping." He answered, shaking his head.

"Firstly...since when did you care about making Jack happy? Secondly...you are NOT my babysitter. I'm diving and if you don't want to join me fine. But I'm going to have some fun." Ellie stated determinedly, shaking her arm free of his grip.

"Fine," Sawyer grumbled, taking hold of her hand in his. "1...2..."

"3!" Ellie yelled, jumping high off the edge, Sawyer following; their hands still tangled. They hit the water easily, a splash erupting around them. Sawyer kicked for the surface, air bubbles floating around him. His head broke the water and he spit out a mouthful. Turning his head he saw Ellie, floating on the surface, facing the sky.

"That was cool, right?" She said, keeping her head straight and barely moving as she floated.

"That was damn crazy is what is was!" Sawyer half-yelled in her direction.

"I'm not crazy Sawyer." Ellie remarked, before dipping her head backwards and turning into a graceful back somersault, a few inches of her flat stomach skinning the surface of the water as her shirt rose up slightly. Sawyer felt her tug on his leg as she swam effortlessly past him, before popping up next to him.

"I'm done now, we can go back to camp." She said, before rolling into an elegant front crawl and heading for the side of the lagoon. Sawyer shook his head. She was truly exhausting.

* * *

"Favourite colour?"

"Red. Favourite ice-cream?"

"Rocky road. Favourite Disney character?

"The tiger from the Jungle Book."

"Sher Khan? He's the baddie!"

"Duh...that's why I liked him Driftwood."

"You are too weird." Ellie and Sawyer walked steadily through the jungle, wet clothes clinging to them. Ellie had been talking non-stop, it was like she was a wind-up doll turned permanently onto 'fast'. But oddly enough, Sawyer didn't mind. It was nice to talk to someone who didn't think he was an asshole. Yet, Ellie was unassuming, willing to go with the flow but she was spontaneous at the same time; hell, she'd proven that for sure. He enjoyed watching her as she plodded along in her wet jeans and one of Kate's t-shirts. She was carrying her dry shoes in her hand and didn't seem to notice the hard ground underfoot. Instead she was more interested in knowing stupid little things about him. This was what he liked most about her. In all their time on the island, no-one else had really bothered about talking to him; he rubbed them up the wrong way, and they him. And then here was Ellie, actually interested in finding out which was the first movie he had ever made out with someone during. It was refreshing, he thought, and he wondered how he looked in her eyes.

Ellie looked at Sawyer inquisitively, taking him in. She knew exactly why he liked the baddie, probably for the same reason that Jack, when she asked him the same question, had answered 'Arthur, Sword in the Stone.' Everyone seemed to fit into a box on this island, in this situation. Sawyer was the baddie, Jack the hero. Kate was the damsel in distress or the heroine, depending on the day. Everyone fitted in somewhere, and it was hard to know where her place was. At least, when she was in the main camp, surrounded by people; some of whom were still cautious of her, remembering the last person who claimed he had accidently landed on the island. Others, like Rose and Bernard had welcomed her with open arms and were willing to do anything to make her feel accepted. But Sawyer...it was like it didn't matter who the hell she was, because she made him laugh and she treated him like a person. 'Even though,' Ellie thought, 'I know way more about him that he thinks.' The difference was though, despite everything Ellie knew about Sawyer...or James...she didn't care. The past was in the past, what you did before didn't matter now because there was nothing you could do about it. Which was why she liked Sawyer so much. Jack and Kate were really great but she knew that every time they looked at her, all they saw were the scars on her wrists. Sawyer just saw her.

Ellie smiled, hearing raised voices coming from the camp. She grabbed Sawyer's arm.

"Race you?"


	11. Understandable

"Ellie?" Kate's voice drifted through the darkness. Receiving no reply she leaned up on one shoulder and looked over to where Ellie was sleeping. Her dark hair was slayed out on her make-shift pillow, and one foot peeked out from underneath the blanket that was covering her. Her eyelids flickered as she dreamed, her fingers curling underneath her chin. Kate moved slowly to the opening in the tent. Wincing at the cold air from the sea she glanced around. Sawyer was still sat by his fire, reading. She walked over to him, checking over her shoulder to make sure that Ellie was asleep.

"Evening." Sawyer said, not looking up from his book.

"Where did you and Ellie go today?" It had been bugging Kate for the entire afternoon; ever since Ellie and Sawyer had come running into camp, grinning like schoolkids. They had been sopping wet, and when Jack had asked why Ellie had dissolved into a fit of giggles and refused to tell. Sawyer had followed her lead, which just made her giggle more. They had been like a pair of five year olds, everytime Jack or Kate had asked them - which was at least 20 times - Ellie had answered in French.

"Nowhere." Sawyer said, his eyes firmly fixed on the page but his mouth curling into a smile.

"Sawyer." Kate sat down on the sand next to him, the heat from the fire radiating through her. "Just tell me OK? It's not funny anymore. Where did you go?" Sawyer finally set the book down and turned to face her.

"We went for a walk, ended up at that lagoon place you and me found. Took a swim, talked a bit."  
"That's it?" Kate stared at him. Sawyer shrugged.

"That's it. She just wanted to have some fun." Kate turned her attention to the fire, thoughts swimming around her head.

"Don't feel bad Freckles. It ain't personal."

"I know that." Kate snapped. Inwardly she groaned. "If it wasn't personal why wouldn't she tell me? Better yet, why not ask me in the first place? Why ask Sawyer?" Sawyer's voice broke through her thoughts, as if he was reading her mind he said,

"You and Jack are kind of like the parents; the ones she trusts to take care of her, make sure she eats right, gets enough sleep. Parent stuff. And me...well I'm Sawyer."

"You're fun." Kate interuppted, her voice stinging.

"No. I'm the bad influence, the uncle who lets her do stuff she shouldn't. She's 17 years old Kate, she should be out with her friends doing things her parents wouldn't approve of. Instead, she's here, without anyone she knows and who knows her and she doesn't know what to think anymore."

"She said that?" Kate asked, surprised.

"How did you guess?" Sawyer joked. "Like I said, we talked. Don't go gettin' jealous, Freckles." he warned, seeing Kate breathe in sharply. "Why does this bother you so much?" He asked.

"It doesn't!" Kate lied.

"Freckles." Sawyer scolded gently, "Is it really that big a deal?"

"Yes" Kate whispered, turning her head away from Sawyer and staring into the darkness. Her face was flushed from the heat of the fire and she felt cold tears slide down her cheeks.

"Kate?" Sawyer laid a hand on her shoulder and she shied away from him. "Kate? Why is this such a big deal?" he repeated. Kate tried to catch her breath.

"She...she reminds me of someone I used to know, OK?" Sawyer moved his hand from her shoulder and cupped chin in his hand, turning her face towards him. The firelight made her teartracks glitter as she looked at him.

"Who?" he asked. Kate stared downwards at the sand. Sawyer didn't let go of her, instead he grazed his thumb tenderly over her cheek. "Kate," he whispered gruffly, "who does she remind you of?"

"She reminds me of me."

* * *

"Morning." Ellie yawned. She had had a surprisingly good night's sleep, considering that she was essentially sleeping out in the open air. She had never been good at the whole camping experience; the only time her father had tried to take her she had woken at 3am and screamed until he let her sleep in the car.

"Hi." Kate, already dressed, was sitting cross legged, running a hairbrush through her hair. "Sleep well?"

"Mmm." Ellie nodded, stretching her legs underneath the blanket.

"Comfortable? Not too cold?" Kate continued,

"Yes Mom." came the muttered reply. Suddenly it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the tent. The small words hung between them, Ellie reclining on her elbows with her hair all mussed and Kate still sitting with hers half brushed. Thankfully they were interuppted by Jack sticking his head through the doorway of the tent.

"You're awake!" he said to Ellie, his voice full of energy.

"I guess." Ellie replied, her eyes fixed on Kate.

"I was gonna take a walk to the Hatch, wondered if you wanted me to get the rest of your stuff and bring it down?" Jack had insisted that Ellie only took a few items with her down to the beach, in case she didn't feel safe there.

"Can I come?" She asked quickly. Jack looked surprised, Ellie still sometimes seemed distant to him, wary. If he was honest with himself, it had kind of annoyed him yesterday, when she and Sawyer had arrived back at the beach. It wasn't that he was jealous, as such, it was just that he didn't understand why she was willing to go off with Sawyer, but not with him.

"Sure." he said, trying to hide a smile. "5 minutes?"

"Fine." Jack walked off and Ellie swung her legs around, trying to re-arrange her thoughts. Kate had put down her hairbrush and was absently playing with a stray thread on her jeans.

"Your sneakers are over there." She pointed to the bottom of Ellie's 'bed'.

"Thanks." Ellie said, grabbing them and bolting out of the tent towards the water trough where Jack was filling up water bottles. She balanced easily on one foot as she put on her sneaker, then hopped lightly onto the other foot to put on the other one. Jack looked sideways at her.

"You still have three minutes and 40 seconds you know. I wouldn't have left without you." He joked. Ellie tried to laugh but Jack could see her heart wasn't in it. "Let's go."

* * *

"I called her mom." Ellie blurted out. They had been walking for about five minutes, neither of them talking. Jack could tell something was bothering her; the difference between her today to how she had been a few weeks ago; silent and pensive compared to bubbly and energetic, it was enough to tell him that something must have happened. And apparently it had.

"Kate?" He asked.

"Yeah. Just now. She was asking if I slept ok and if I was comfortable and I said 'yes mom'. I didn't mean to...it just came out but ... I mean, is that how I see her? Yesterday I was talking about it with Sawyer and it kind of got me thinking that maybe I've latched onto you and Kate as sort of surrogate parents, you know? Cos I don't have mine anymore. Is that insane?"

"Not insane. Understandable. What did Kate say?" Jack and Kate hadn't really had a chance to talk properly since the night Ellie had freaked out on them. The night they had almost kissed. He had wanted to, but everytime they got remotely near to being alone they had been interuppted.

"She didn't. I think she was as surprised as I was." Ellie fell silent again, remembering the stunned look on Kate's face. They walked on again, Ellie a few steps behind Jack. He slowed his pace slightly, so she could keep up if she wanted to. She wanted to. There were so many things she wanted to ask him; thoughts buzzing through her mind. But everytime she opened her mouth, it was as if she couldn't find the words.

"Ellie?" Jack spoke first

"Yeah?" she answered, relieved that he had spoken first.

"The other day, when Sawyer brought some of your stuff to the hatch, he found something else. We didn't give it to you, we weren't sure if we should."

"What was it?" Ellie was intrigued and hurried to catch up with him. He had continued walking, calling out to her over his shoulder. Jack stopped walking, and fished around in his jeans pocket. He pulled out the orange pill bottle that contained Ellie's prescribed anti-depressants. The second Ellie heard the rattle of the pills her face paled. She couldn't breathe and her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

"Ellie. It's ok." Jack placed his other hand on Ellie's forehead and angling her head so that he could look into her eyes. She blinked rapidly and tried to formulate a coherent sentence.

"I...I...I didn't, I never took any."

"I know. I thought you might want them; you can get rid of them or whatever."

"How about you keep them? You have all the other medication, you never know when something might come in useful, right?" Ellie pushed away Jack's outstretched hand; pushing away the pills. "I never wanted them - they were my grandfather's idea. He thought they might help, but I don't want them."

"Fair enough." Jack replied, putting the pill bottle back into his pocket. "So..."Mom". That's pretty huge."

"Is it?" Ellie asked, turning away from Jack and beginning to walk again.

"Is it?" Jack mimicked. Ellie laughed, the light sound echoing around the trees.

"I don't know. Maybe I do think of you as kind of my parents..." " Ellie looked at him, her green eyes reflecting the sunlight streaming through the leafy canopy above them. "I mean, would that be so bad?" Jack felt his heart swell with a feeling close to pride. She acted so mature; when he looked at her it was the same as when he looked at Kate, seeing a young woman who had been through far too much, far too soon.. But she was only 17, and deep down she was scared and wanted someone to protect her, reassure her.

"No," he finally answered. "It wouldn't be bad at all."


	12. Mom and Dad

"Kate?" Ellie whispered, her voice breaking through the darkness.

"Yeah." Kate answered, also in a whisper.

"Nothing." There was a noise, kind of a shuffle as Ellie turned over onto her side.

"Oh...ok." Kate replied. "Night then."

"Night." Kate closed her eyes. She was just falling into sleep when Ellie's voice drifted silently over.

"I'm sorry I called you Mom." Kate's breath caught in her chest.

"I'm not." she answered.

"Kate?" Jack's voice was a whisper in the darkness. He was crouched in the opening of Kate and Ellie's tent; the light from the outside fire creating an eerie silhouette. Kate jumped at the sound of him and raised herself to a reclining position - leaning on her elbows.

"Yeah?" She answered, casting a sidewards glance across the tent to where Ellie was sleeping. She always slept in one of two positions, Kate had realised. One was on her front with her head turned to the side, with arms curled underneath her. The other, which she was in now, was how she slept when she had had a good day, on her side, one arm laying gently across her stomach and the other curled underneath her chin. Her hair was a dark shadow over her face. Kate could see her eyelids fluttering as she dreamed.

"Can we talk?" Jack cast a similar glance over to Ellie, and gestured with a nod of his head - "out here?". Kate hesitated.

"If she wakes up and I'm not here; she'll freak out."

"Oh. Ok then," Jack replied resignedly, backing out of the tent.

"For God's sake," came a weary voice, "just go with the man and let me go back to sleep." Ellie poked her tongue at a bemused Kate and turned onto her other side. Kate looked at Jack who smiled and shrugged.

* * *

"So you're 'Mom'..." Jack said to Kate, half-smiling. They were sat close together, sharing each other's heat and the heat of the fire.

"Apparently so." Kate answered, throwing a small piece of driftwood onto the fire. Jack didn't know what to say. There was so much he wanted to ask her, to tell her. But at the same time he could tell that there was too much that she was thinking of already. He didn't want to pressure her. And yet...

"I guess that makes you 'Dad', right?" Kate continued after a moment.

"Does it?" Jack asked, his mind buzzing with a thousand answers, and a thousand questions.

"Well, if you think about it," Kate finally turned to look at Jack, and found his face surprisingly close to her own. "A dad is the person that you trust to be there when you get hurt; which you were, and to protect you from anything that frightens you; which you do; and who you can laugh with; which she can. So yeah, I think it does." A single tear slid down Kate's cheek, but Jack didn't see it.

"Kate..." He moved closer, his face inches from hers.

"You know," she interuppted, "if I'm 'Mom' and you're 'Dad', then..." Kate's words were silenced by Jack's lips pressing gently on hers. She was momentarily stunned, and then relaxed into the kiss, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

In the tent, sitting cross-legged at the end of her bed, Ellie grinned to herself. "Finally."

* * *

"You like him." Ellie and Kate were in the forest, Kate shimmying up and down trees finding fruit. Ellie, who had been sternly ordered by Jack to 'keep your skinny ass on the ground' was kicking aimlessly at the plants. It wasn't fair that she had been 'grounded', just because she went swimming off a tiny cliff that wasn't even dangerous. And besides, trying to have a conversation with someone who was halfway up a tree wasn't the easiest thing in the world. As if to prove Ellie's thought, Kate called down,

"What?" A mango sailed narrowly past Ellie's right shoulder and she jumped as it hit the ground with a resounding thud.

"First of all, a little warning would be nice!" Ellie yelled up the tree. "And second, you know exactly what I said so don't try to pretend you didn't." Ellie grinned as Kate turned her head and stared down at Ellie, her cheeks pink. Kate couldn't help but smile to see Ellie looking so...normal. Her hair was tied into a french braid, courtesy of Kate that morning, and she was wearing a pair of jeans and one of Kate's shirts. That had been another of Jack's instructions; that she should cover her shoulders, before she started to get sunburnt. Ellie had moaned when he had handed her the white cotton shirt, but secretly had been pleased that he was willing to take the 'father' role. They all knew he wasn't, and never would be but all the same, it was nice to know there was someone who wanted to be there for her. Kate began to clamber down the tree and Ellie took a step back, allowing Kate to drop gracefully the last 6 feet or so.

"I do not like Jack. Well, I like him obviously, he's my friend, but I don't _like_ like him." Kate's cheeks turned fuschia underneath Ellie's sceptical gaze.

"Riiight," she said slowly, "So why exactly did you two make out and then fall asleep together last night?" Kate's mouth fell open, she didn't know that Ellie had seen them together. She and Jack had woken at dawn, and seeing how they had slept had been more than embarassed. Kate had hurried back to her and Ellie's tent and tried to pretend that that was where she had been. Jack had returned to his own tent; both of them confused as to what the actions of the night before meant.

"Hello? Earth to Kate? Spill...confess...I want details" Ellie waved a hand in front of Kate's face. Kate blinked, surprised to see this new side of Ellie. Sometimes it was hard to remember that she was still just a teenager, though she acted much older than she was. She'd had to.

"Nothing happened last night." Kate answered, focusing her attention,

"Liar."

"Nothing happened!" Kate tried to protest her innocence but Ellie scoffed,

"I'm not stupid Kate. Last night, after you left the tent to go talk to Jack, which by the way - I will _not_ freak if I wake up and you aren't there - I stayed awake and watched you. Call me nosy, call me a hopeless romantic, whatever. You were too wrapped up in each other to pay any attention. Too busy getting all cosy by the fire;, and one minute you were talking and the next it was like something out of a teen movie." Ellie finished with a grin, seeing that Kate's face was scarlet with embarassment.

"I had no idea that you were properly awake. God if we'd known we never have..." Kate broke off when she saw that Ellie was stifling giggles. "What?"

"You two are ridiculous. Anyone can see that you're perfect for each other. Seeing you, all tangled up on the beach this morning, it was so cute. It was like it was where you both belonged." Kate was speechless.

"If you want my opinion, it's about time. Anyone can see you're in love with him." Ellie continued, "and more to the point he's in love with you so the way I see it..." Kate finally recovered long enough to interuppt Ellie mid-sentence,

"And how exactly do you know that I'm in love with him? And 'more to the point', that he loves me?" Kate's heart was beating so hard she half expected it to jump out of her chest. She tried to joke with Ellie, making air-quotes and half-smiling. But inside, inside she was desperately hoping it was true.

"Because..." Ellie began, "because you look at each other the same way that my parents looked at each other."


	13. The Dating Game

"Brought you a present."

"Another one? What's the occasion?" Ellie was sat on the beach just away from the main camp. She was reading, shaded from the sun by a tree. When she looked up at Sawyer he could see his face in the reflection of her glasses.

"Treasure hunt. But it's not treasure when it's got your name on it." Ellie raised an eyebrow but said nothing. In her six weeks on the island she had learnt that the best way to get along with Sawyer was to just play along with everything he did. He grinned mischievously and sat down next to her; hiding whatever it was he had brought her behind his back and leaning over her shoulder to see what she was reading.

"What happened to the French?" he asked, realising that unlike the book she had been reading a few weeks ago, he could read this one.

"Finished it?" Ellie replied, her tone ringing 'Duh'. "Jack brought me a few from the Hatch when he realised how _bored _I was."

"You, bored? Never." Sawyer gasped sarcastically. "There I was thinking you found it fun bugging me every damn day." He joked. Ellie's reply was a swift smack on the shoulder with her book; though she kept her page using her thumb. With her other hand she tried to sneak behind his back and grab whatever it was he had found of hers. She wasn't quick enough though and he whipped it away before she got a chance to get it.

"Nice try. So watcha readin' Driftwood?" He asked, rubbing his smarting shoulder. For a skinny girl Ellie couldn't half whack a punch.  
"Vanity Fair." Ellie answered, showing him the dust jacket. "I've read it before but it's pretty good. Jack knows how to pick a book." she finished teasingly. One of her favourite things to do was tease Sawyer about Jack, and Jack about Sawyer. But unlike when anybody else did it, both Sawyer and Jack seemed to find it hilarious.

"I'm sure he does." Sawyer smirked. "So...we still on for later?" Ellie's face dropped. "What?"

"I...I kind of made other plans. I'm sorry. We can go tomorrow, right?" She stammered quietly.

"What other plans?" he asked, trying to keep a straight face. Ellie blushed,

"I have...well...I have a date." Sawyer laughed and for a moment Ellie looked outraged. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

"I already knew you had 'other plans!'" Sawyer grinned, making airquotes with his fingers. "And who exactly is this date with?" he asked laughingly.

"You already know so don't try and be cute." Ellie huffed.

"Oh come on Driftwood I'm only havin' fun." he wheedled. "And I don't know who - all Freckles told me was you had a date tonight and you were getting all nervous and teenage-y on her."

"Go have fun somewhere else." Ellie answered, but she was smiling.

"I would, but my date went and got herself another date, little player that she is." Ellie gasped in mock shock and held her hands up in fake horror,

"Oh how terrible, I actually have a life!" she laughed. "Don't ruin this, I'm actually looking forward to it. I like Noah."

"Noah?"

"Noah Roberts. Tall, dark hair, great sense of humour plus totally gorgeous? He and his friend Kyle have tents on the other side of camp. What's the big deal?" Ellie laughed when she saw Sawyer's face,

"He's too old for you." Sawyer fumed,

"5 years."

"_Way_ too old for you._"_ Sawyer repeated.

"_Only_ five years." Ellie reiterated. "It's not a problem."

We'll see about that." Sawyer muttered, getting to his feet and walking purposefully towards the main camp. He was heading for Jack's tent, since he knew that was where Kate was most likely to be found.

"You didn't give me my present!" Ellie called after him. When he didn't turn around she scrambled to her feet and headed after him.

* * *

Ellie finally caught up with Sawyer at Claire's tent, after chasing him from Jack's tent to hers and Kates and back again. Kate and Claire were sat talking, Aaron was lying between them on the sand, wrapped in a blanket. Ellie smiled apologetically at Claire as Sawyer began ranting at Kate.

"She's dating Noah Roberts?" he almost yelled,

"She's going on a date...not dat_ing_. There's a difference." Kate replied, cottoning onto what he was talking about when she saw Ellie practically stamp her foot in frustration.

"Whatever. You're letting her go on a date with a guy five years older than she is?"

"If she wants to. It's her life." Kate raised her voice to match Sawyer's. Ellie, who had been watching the short exchange with growing impatience suddenly interrupted with a loud -

"HEY!" Sawyer and Kate both stared at her. Claire smiled; her focus had been on Ellie throughout the whole conversation. "First of all, I have a name. I am not 'her', nor am I 'she'. Second of all, Kate's right Sawyer, it is my life and I want to go on a date with Noah. It's not like age means the same here as it did back home. Five years older than me is nothing."

"Who's five years older than you?" Jack asked, approaching the group. Charlie was with him, trying with great difficulty to hold four coconuts in his arms. Ellie reached out and took two from him, while casually answering;

"Noah." Jack shot a blank look towards Kate, noting Sawyer's angry huffing.

"Ellie and he are going on a date." Claire elaborated helpfully.

"Over my dead body." Jack immediately replied. Ellie jumped at the sharpness of his voice. Kate looked shocked, and slightly annoyed, Sawyer looked shocked and quite pleased while Charlie and Claire sat in the middle of it all; highly amused.

"Excuse me?" Ellie said incredulously. "If I'm not mistaken this is a free island. Sort of." She added as an afterthought. "And I'm free to make my own decisions, thank you very much, and MY decision is to go on a _date_ with Noah. One date. Dinner, the same dinner as I usually eat with one of you guys except tonight I'm going to be eating with Noah. And I will talk to Noah, and I will laugh with Noah and I will have fun with Noah, and I may even may even make out with Noah but _it's not illegal_. I'm 17. I want to have fun, and I want to have fun with him. So there." Charlie applauded when Ellie had finished speaking, and she blushed beet red. Both Jack and Sawyer shot him irritated looks while Kate tried to hide her smirk.

Secretly she was glad when Noah had asked her out when they were both filling their bottles of water, and evem more so when Ellie had accepted the offer. It wasn't that Kate didn't want to spend time with Ellie; she loved it in fact, but after almost six weeks on the island, Ellie still hadn't gotten to know many of the other survivors. And it had been quite funny to see the teenager actually acting like a teenager; fussing over what to wear and whether or not to put her hair up. It wasn't fair of Jack and Sawyer to spoil it all for her.

"She's right. No-one's saying they're gonna get married and have a dozen kids. It's a date. It's normal. It's fun. Chill out." Ellie smiled at Kate's defense.

"He's still too old." Jack protested, as Sawyer stood with his arms crossed, fuming. Kate didn't know what else to say to him, and she didn't need to. Ellie ended the whole conversation in spectacular style; first by standing on tiptoe and whispering into Jack's ear; whatever she said made him laugh out loud, before she hurtled off down the beach to where Noah had made his tent. As she bounded up to him it was clear to all those watching that he liked her; his face lit up. Especially when she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Sawyer was outraged and stormed off into the jungle, kicking a palm tree trunk as he went and muttering angrily under his breath; "Taking advantage. Lousy scumbag. Stupid kid." Kate looked at Jack, laughing.

"What did she say to you?" Since their kiss by the fire nothing had happened; much to Ellie's secret annoyance and the growing frustrations of Kate and Jack themselves. Neither of them wanted to be the first to bring it up. Jack smiled at her -

"Nothing."

* * *

So...After the longest lack of an update...Chapter 13!! I wasn't sure if I was going to do another chapter, but thanks to a reviewer I got an idea as to how the story could continue. And I'm glad cos I really enjoy this. Hope you like the chapter, will try to update as quickly as possible. Thanks for reading, and if you review I shall be grateful. Sarah


	14. Kisses and Spies

"What did she say?" Kate asked for what felt like the three-thousandth time. Jack had been frustratingly secretive and adamant that he wouldn't tell her, even though she had persisted all the while they were eating. After they had finished dinner, Jack had suggested a walk, in a tone so casual she actually thought for a moment that they were going to discuss what had happened between them a few days ago.

"I think she's having fun, don't you?" Jack said, sounding as if he wished she weren't and ignoring Kate's question. He was talking about Ellie, who they had a clear view of, thanks to Jack's deciding they should sit down and watch the sunset right in the middle of the beach in a totally inconspicuous spot which wouldn't raise the curiosity of anyone at all. Ellie and Noah were sat together outside his tent, casually chatting and eating at the same time. Kate felt Jack's whole body tense when Noah reached over and brushed Ellie's hair away from her face.

"What did she say?" Kate asked again, trying to divert Jack's attention.

"I'm not telling you so you may as well save your breath." Jack replied, not taking his eyes off Ellie. She was laughing, again. Usually this would make him smile - Ellie's laugh was infectious but knowing that she was laughing at something Noah had said...it riled him. She was too young for him, no matter what she said.

"Fine." Kate huffed. "And yes...she is having fun. A lot. And for some reason it bothers you."

"Of course it bothers me Kate, she's just a kid. He's an adult." Jack almost snapped and Kate hesitantly laid a hand on his.

"She's not just a kid Jack. You and I both know she's more mature than anyone her age should be. And Noah is a nice guy -" She said quietly. Jack felt her skin touch his and didn't pull away.

"She deserves someone who's better than just _nice_."

"But she _wants_ Noah And if you do anything to try and stop them seeing each other it's you who'll lose out." Kate warned. "Let's just take a walk someplace else, and leave her in peace OK?" Kate stroked her thumb over the back of Jack's hand and he felt his skin tingle.

"Sounds like a plan." He said, standing and shaking sand off of his legs. He held a hand out to Kate to help her up. And didn't let go.

* * *

"...so when we graduated we decided that rather than getting stuck in some office cubicle somewhere, we wanted to get out and see the world." Noah said, handing Ellie a slice of guava.

"Where did you go first?" she answered as she took a bite.

"Prague. Kind of a strange choice, but we just picked pot-luck on the atlas. Found work in some smoky cafe or bar or garbage dump - " he made a face, " - until we had enough money for plane fare to the next place."

"I wish I could have done that." Ellie mused. "Where was your favourite place?"

"Well, I loved Thailand, and New Delhi was a...lets just say it was interesting. But my favourite place was Paris, without a doubt." Noah answered immediately. Ellie's face lit up.

"I lived in Paris for three months! It's such a great city."

"I know!" Noah enthused. "I could have spent a year there...the art galleries, the architecture, the history."

"You like art?"

"It's what I majored in. Minor in economics." Noah gave a kind of lopsided grin; "Strange combination I know."

"Let me guess...you wanted to be an artist but your parents wanted something a little more stable?" Ellie said with a questioning smile, and Noah laughed.

"Something like that. Hold on a second," He reached over and brushed her hair away from her face, his hand lingering for a moment on her cool cheek. "That's better...now I can see your eyes." Ellie blushed and looked away...just in time to see Jack and Kate walking across the beach, holding hands. She turned back to Noah.

"What's your favourite Disney character?" she asked with a small smile. He looked confused, then thought for a second before answering :-

"Simba from The Lion King." Ellie smiled.

"Good answer."

"Strange question." Noah said with a raised eyebrow. "What's yours?" Ellie grinned wickedly,

"Not tellin'."

* * *

Sawyer spent the evening alone in his tent; trying to resist the urge to go and punch someone. Who did that Noah guy think he was? Hanging around an innocent kid, waiting to take advantage of her. No matter what she, or Kate said, Ellie was still a kid and kids shouldn't date guys five years older than they were. He seethed inwardly, then turned his attention to the object he had hidden underneath his airline chair; the gift he had wanted to give Ellie. He didn't know how he always managed to be the one to find her damn stuff...washing up on the rocks and the beach, maybe it was due to being a con artist...he saw things other people couldn't.

He had seen it hanging precariously on the sharp edge of a rock; barely caught and close to slipping off into the swirling waters beneath it. He had noticed the glinting of the gold locket and like a magpie was instantly attracted to it. The chain was slightly rusted, and the front of it was scratched but when he turned it over to look at the back, something inside of him churned uncomfortably. The engraving read; "_Our baby girl - sweet sixteen. Our love to you always, Mom and Dad. x_" Inside were two tiny pictures - somehow undamaged by the water. He recognised the people from the images in Ellie's scrapbook, she had shown it to him several weeks ago and told him everything. About the memorial service that the town had held for her parents, how her boyfriend had given up on her because she was too distraught to think straight, the day she had ended up on suicide watch at the local hospital.

He hated to think of her getting hurt again, hated to think of her being treated badly by some jerk who thought she was just a cute piece of skirt and only wanted one thing. She deserved better than that, after everything she had been through. He shoved the locket into the pocket of his jeans and headed out towards the beach, intending to spy on Ellie and 'the date'.

He prowled through the undergrowth behind Noah's tent, as silent as the night. He could see the glowing embers of the fire Noah and Ellie had shared, but no-one was watching it, he couldn't hear any talking or laughing. He would have recognised Ellie's laugh out of a million...but all he could hear now were the waves of the ocean a few dozen feet away. He snarled silently, not only had Ellie gone on a date with this guy but she had gone off walking in the dark with him. He began to walk in the general direction of Kate and Ellie's tent - to ask Kate again _why_ exactly she had agreed to Ellie dating Noah. He was stood by the water trough, a few feet away from the tent Kate and Ellie shared when he heard a familiar voice.

* * *

"I had a really great time." Ellie said, carefully picking her way through fallen palm leaves and dried bits of wood as Noah walked her back to her tent.

"Me too." Noah replied. "Maybe we could do it again sometime?"

"Hopefully somewhere where we won't be spied on," Ellie laughed. "I am so sorry about Jack and Kate." Noah shrugged understandingly.

"Parents are meant to be overprotective. I mean, I know they aren't your parents or anything.." his voice trailed off, as he failed to cover up his mistake. Ellie took his hand in hers, saying quietly;

"It's ok. They are like my parents...you don't have to be careful what you say, really. Just be normal." She looked him in the eyes and Noah smiled at her, using one hand to brush away the same strand of hair as he had before, and squeezing her hand with the other.

"Well in the interests of normalcy, considering this is a date and I've effectively walked you home, there's one last thing I want to do..." He finished his sentence by leaning close and gently kissing her on the lips. Ellie felt his hand rest protectively on the small of her back and she relaxed nearer to him. They eventually broke apart and he kissed her gently on the forehead.

"I'll see you tomorrow." he said.

"Goodnight." One last kiss, and he was walking back across the beach. She slipped into her tent and flopped onto her bed, a million thoughts buzzing around her mind. Her lips tingled from his kiss...

* * *

So...please review cos I love to get them. Thanks!


	15. Told you so

If this chapter looks familiar: it's because I updated it. Read read read. And then review. Please. :

* * *

"So. You and Jack were pretty interesting last night." Ellie said nonchalantly. She was sat cross-legged with her back leaning against Kate's bed, while Kate, sat on the bed, french-braided her hair. Hearing Jack's name Kate accidentally tugged on some strands of hair, making Ellie wince. 

"Hey! It's attached you know." Ellie paused. "He's that good, huh?" Kate didn't know what to say.

"You know one day I'll teach you to do this yourself." she managed to say, trying to change the subject.

"Do what? Change the subject?" Kate secured the plait with a band, and Ellie turned around to face her.

"I want details Miss Austen. Out with it."

"There's nothing to tell. Jack and I went for a walk. I was trying to distract him from spying on you and Noah." Ellie felt her stomach flip when Kate said Noah's name. Kate smiled at the pink flush which spread across Ellie's cheeks.

"That good, huh?" she teased, repeating Ellie's own words. Ellie flopped backwards onto her bed.

"Fine. We'll just pretend nothing happened. Nothing at all." Kate laughed and threw Ellie's old teddy bear at her. The teenager grabbed it and chucked it back.

"What? You won't tell me what happened with you and Jack, so you don't get details about me and Noah. So there." she stuck her tongue out childishly and Kate laughed again, letting herself fall backwards onto her own bed. They were silent for a few minutes, listening to the noise of the other survivors waking up and beginning their days.

"We kissed." They said simultaneously. Ellie sat up slightly and leaned on her elbow; looking at Kate. Kate remained flat on her back, staring at the roof in the tent.

"You and Jack kissed again?"

"That's what I said." Kate said quietly.

"Is that all?" Ellie asked, slightly disappointed. Kate leaned onto her elbow; mirroring Ellie's position.

"He was on the verge of knocking Noah unconscious for even daring to speak to you. We went for a walk, we talked -"

"About what?" Ellie interuppted.

"You," Kate answered and a confused look spread across Ellie's face. Kate continued, "Me, him, us. What happened between us the other night. And then, we kissed." Kate slipped restlessly onto her back again, sighing.

"Kissed as in how you kiss your strange uncle from out of town? Or kissed as in, _kissed_?" Ellie persisted. Kate rested a hand over her eyes, answering:-

"The second one."

"Ditto." Ellie said, sitting up and casting an eye around the tent for her shoes. Spotting them hiding underneath a shirt she pulled them on.

"Where are you going?" Kate asked, noting all the sudden activity

"To tell Jack something." Ellie skipped out of the tent.

* * *

Jack was sat outside of his tent, carefully shaving with a piece of mirror held in front of his face. Ellie took the mirror out of his hand and held it up. He smiled and managed to nick his cheek with the razor. 

"Careful." Ellie said, just as Kate came hurrying over. She whispered hastily in Ellie's ear,

"What did you say?"

"Nothing yet. Chill!" Ellie whispered back. Jack dabbed at his cut face, his gaze flittering from Kate to Ellie and back again.

"Good morning?" He said, reminding them of his presence. Kate smiled bashfully and a slight blush crept over her cheeks.

"Hi." Ellie said triumphantly, earning her a confused look from Jack. "I just came to say 'I told you so'". Jack's look of confusion suddenly changed, and matched Kate's embarrassed one. A matching shade of pink spread over his cheeks and Ellie giggled.

"How old are you two again?" she asked, but neither Jack nor Kate answered her. "Okay...so I'm going to give you to some 'alone' time," Ellie made airquotes on the word 'alone'. "If you need me, I'm with Noah." And with that she strolled happily towards Noah's tent.

Jack looked at Kate.

"Hi." He said, making her smile.

"Hi." She answered...

* * *

"You're going to tell me." Kate stated. 

"No, I'm not!" Jack answered, a smile on his face. Kate shoved his shoulder playfully.

"You want to tell me." She wheedled. It was early morning, and they were stood on the edge of the sea, letting the water wash over their feet. Their conversation was hushed, in case anyone overheard them. Not than anyone was really bothered; seeing Jack and Kate locked in conversation was hardly a new phenomenon, most people assumed that they were an 'item', though nothing had been said about it. In fact, people noticed when they weren't together, more than if they were.

"No. I. Don't." Jack laughed, gently pushing her back. Kate leaned closer and whispered in his ear. Jack looked at her, surprise registering on his face.

"I'm still not telling you!" He spluttered.

"Fine. Suit yourself. I'll just ask Ellie." Kate muttered childishly, crossing her arms and turning away from him slightly.

"She won't tell you either." Jack teased.

"I know, I already asked. Why won't you tell me?" Kate sounded remarkably like a disappointed toddler; wanting something she couldn't have.

"Why won't he tell you what?" came a voice from behind them. They turned around, momentarily embarrassed at being caught by someone; even though they hadn't been talking about anything worth worrying about. Their embarrassment faded when they realised that the person behind them was Ellie. Noah was stood slightly behind her, and they were holding hands.

"Jack here still won't tell me what you said to him to let you date Noah." Kate said, giving Jack a playful dig in the rib with her elbow. At the mention of his name Noah looked slightly embarrassed; it was widely known around camp that Jack and Sawyer had both been seriously against even one date with him. Sawyer still gave him deadly stares whenever he saw him.

Ellie laughed at Kate's sulky reaction.

"You're still on that? It's not like I told him the whereabouts of the Lindbergh baby!" Jack and Noah laughed, but Kate raised an eyebrow. "Fine. If you're really _that_ desperate to know I'll tell you." Kate gave Jack a look of triumph.

"All I did was remind him that while Noah is five years older than me, there's a bigger age difference between the two of you." Ellie felt Noah's arm snake around her waist as all four of them laughed. Jack went slightly red;

"Well I couldn't be a hypocrite could I?" he mumbled.

"So. What are you two doing today?" Kate asked, changing the subject. In the two weeks since Ellie and Noah's first date they had spent the majority of their days together. Ellie was trying (somewhat miserably) to improve his understanding of French, while Noah told her stories of his and Kyle's year abroad, travelling. They seemed infatuated with each other, and everyone in camp – bar Sawyer – thought it was adorable.

"Well. We're going to take a walk, and then who knows. I may convince Noah to come for a swim with me...but you never know. I think he's scared." She teased, winking at Kate

"Hey!" Noah objected, "I am not scared. I happen to be an excellent swimmer. I was just worried about you, if you must know."

"Of course you were sweetheart." Ellie soothed, leaning into Noah; she fit perfectly against him. Jack looked at them. Despite his worries a few weeks ago, it seemed to him now that Ellie had been right.

* * *

Across the beach, Sawyer sat just inside his tent, pretending to read. He had taken one of Ellie's books from inside the tent she shared with Kate. 'Vanity Fair'. Ellie had finished the book within a day, but he didn't like it, which was just as well because he couldn't concentrate on it. Not with Ellie and Noah, Jack and Kate stood on the shoreline playing happy families. He looked up, to wear he had hung Ellie's locket for safekeeping. He kept meaning to give it to her, but everytime he tried she was with Noah. They had only spoken briefly in the time that Ellie and Noah had been together; stupid meaningless conversations about the weather, what book she was reading, who he had beaten up that day. More often than not their conversations were interuppted by Noah; coming along to whisk Ellie off to some activity – a prospect she clearly found more exciting than talking to him. Sawyer didn't want to admit it, but he missed her.

* * *

Was it worth the read? Please please review and tell me!! 


	16. NightTime Visit

"Welcome back." Ellie sleep-laden voice reverberated off the makeshift walls of the tent. Kate, who was creeping around in the dark trying to find her bed, almost jumped out of her skin.

"I thought you were sleeping." She whispered, trying to think of a reasonable explanation for why she herself was awake.

"Well that much is obvious." Ellie yawned, snuggling down underneath the airline blanket she used as a quilt.

"Yeah...about that..." Kate stumbled over her words.

"You and Jack really should forget about this whole secrecy thing." Ellie paused and coughed, "Everyone knows anyway."

"They do?" Kate asked, genuinely shocked. As far as she was aware, it was only Ellie and Noah who knew that she and Jack were now officially 'an item'. They weren't public about it; apart from the day of Ellie and Noah's first date when they had held hands across the beach – there hadn't even been the slightest hint of a public display of affection. And they were careful not to discuss 'relationship' stuff; i.e. their recent night time rendez-vous in Jack's tent, within earshot of anyone. Even in her half-asleep state, Ellie knew that Kate's mind was whirring; trying to understand how everyone could know about her and Jack.

"You two may think you're good at the whole secrets thing, but really? Just made it more obvious. People played along cos they thought it was what you wanted." All this was said from a strange disembodied voice; Ellie had now buried herself right underneath the blanket and was curled into a ball. "Look at it this way, at least you get to have an all-nighter rather than a booty call." Kate was shocked, but had to laugh. However, her laughing was stopped abruptly by a hacking cough coming from Ellie's bed.

"You don't sound too good." She said, crouching beside Ellie and pulling away the blanket. All she could see in the darkness was the shawdowy outline of Ellie's body, shivering.

"I'm just cold. It's nothing." Ellie murmered, before coughing again.

"Yeah, sure." Kate said. She reached out a hand and felt around for Ellie's forehead.

"That was my eye. And that's my ear." Mumbled Ellie.

"It's dark." Kate replied, her palm finally making contact with Ellie's forehead. Her burning hot forehead.

"Sweetie, are you feeling ok?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

"Yes." Ellie lied, followed by another hacking cough. "Sort of."

"Hold on a sec. I'm gonna go get Jack. Wait here." Kate left hurriedly, retracing her steps to Jack's tent, and leaving Ellie muttering "That's a shame, I was planning on bunny hopping my way to Venezuela. Guess I'll have to do your thing instead."

* * *

Jack entered the tent white-knight style; complete with blinding flash of light, courtesy of the emergency flashlight he had brought with him. He knelt beside Ellie's bed and felt her forehead. His palm felt refreshingly cool; Ellie hadn't realised she had a fever until she had felt the cold skin of Kate's palm. 

"Hey." He said in a low, soothing voice.

"You don't need to do the doctor voice, there's nothing wrong with me." Jack shot a worried look at Kate; "How long has she been like this?"

"I don't know. I just got back, didn't I? But she was fine this evening, and sleeping normally when I left."

"I'm not sick. I'm cold. Very very cold." Ellie mumbled, closing her eyes and pulling her blanket tightly over her so that it covered her head. Jack pulled it down slightly, so that he could see her face clearly. He felt her forehead again,

"She's got a definite fever, maybe 103? It could be higher but it's hard to tell. And her lips are dry, she's dehydrated." He said to Kate. And then to Ellie; "What did you have to eat today?"

"Food." Ellie replied sarcastically. She opened her eyes and and when she saw Jack and Kate's worried expressions she relented. "Fruit; mangoes and guava. A bit of fish. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Does anything hurt?" Jack asked her.

"I'm achey. And it feels like I've got cotton wool instead of brains." Her eyes closed again.

"It's probably a virus. I'm gonna fetch you some more water, and then Kate and I'll keep an eye on you tonight. If you're not feeling better by morning I'll find you something that can help."

"Ok. But on one condition." Ellie said, stifling a small yawn.

"What?" Jack asked, wondering what she was going to say.

"The babysitter and the doctor aren't allowed to make out while the patient's trying to sleep." Ellie said. Jack and Kate watched her silently as she drifted off into sleep, then looked at each other and laughed; quietly so as not to wake her.

* * *

Two things were different the next morning. The first was that Jack and Kate became public; even though almost everyone on the island had already guessed. They decided not to make any kind of announcement and instead were more subtle; walking out of Kate and Ellie's tent holding hands, and sharing a passionate kiss by the water trough seemed to ensure that everyone who saw them got the message. And those who didn't witness the event were updated by those who had almost immediately. 

The second thing was that Sawyer and Ellie started talking again. As soon as he found out Ellie had been sick the night before, Sawyer had grabbed her locket from his tent and bolted towards hers. Without knocking he burst through the makeshift opening, only to find her wide awake, fully dressed in shorts and a tank-top and sat cross legged on her bed; making an attempt to french braid her hair. When she saw him, she grinned at him.

"Hi." She shook her head, allowing her hair to fall naturally around her shoulders.

"Hey. You're ok?" Sawyer answered, slightly bewildered to find her not at death's door.

"What, you only wanted to talk to me if I was sick? I should probably be offended but I'm touched that you care."

"What're you goin' on about now Driftwood?"

"Only that you've been ignoring me for practically the last, I don't know, month ?"

"I have not. I've just been busy. So have you" he ended his statement in an accusatory tone.

"Are you jealous? Seriously? You're jealous 'cos I wanted to hang out with someone else for a while?"

"I am _not_ jealous. Why would I be jealous?"

"Because you're my BFF." Ellie giggled, suddenly finding the situation hilarious. Sawyer looked confused. "Best friend forever?" Ellie asked,

"Yeah..right." Sawyer answered in his usual manner. "Anyway. I found this...a while ago. You want it back?" he asked her, holding out the locket. For a brief moment, a look of sad recognition flitted across Ellie's face, but before Sawyer could register the it, it was replaced by a small but pretty smile.

"I would love to have it back." She said, understanding that Sawyer's offer of her locket was his strange mode of an apology; and a confession that he had missed her. If she thought about it she had missed him too; not that she didn't enjoy spending time with Noah, but Sawyer was different. Brutally honest yet strangely intuitive. She could relax in his company. It was nice.

Ellie stood up and took the locket from Sawyer, undoing the clasp and placing it around her neck. She still wore the 'Ellie' name necklace that she had been wearing on her first day on the island – she never took it off, but she was glad she had her locket.

"So." She said, stepping past Sawyer and into the sunlight, "Do I look more like my mom or my dad?"

* * *

So that was chapter 16... 


	17. Sleepover

"Help! Jack! Someone, please someone get Jack!" The male voice came like a knife through the silent darkness of the night. Shouts echoed across the beach, punctuated by the wind and waves crashing around camp. Jack, who had been asleep in his tent, woke when Sun burst in.

"Jack, you have to come. It's Ellie." Hearing those last two words Jack's blood ran cold and he pulled on his jeans with an urgency that he had never felt before; his heart pounding. He started towards Kate's tent but Sun grabbed his arm.

"She's not in there. She's over there." She pointed towards Noah's tent, outside of which a small crowd had gathered. He ran as fast as he could towards them, shoving people out of the way. Ellie was lying motionless on the floor, her face flushed and beaded with sweat. Noah was knelt beside her, his hand grasped tightly around hers and whispering, begging her to wake up.

"What the hell happened?" Jack almost spat at the terrified young man, as he held Ellie's other hand to take her pulse. It was racing, and when her skin felt as if it was on fire.

"I don't know. I woke up, and she wasn't moving."

"Was she ok before?"

"What?" Noah asked, bewildered.

"Today, this afternoon, WAS SHE OK?" Jack yelled at him.

"She was coughing. She said she was fine." Noah stuttered.

"Does she look fine to you?" Jack scooped Ellie into his arms and stood up. As the crowd parted to let him through, Jack remembered the first day Ellie had been on the island. He had held her the same way then, not knowing who the hell she was or whether or not she would be ok. Now he knew who she was, and there was no way on earth he was letting her go. He headed towards the ocean but a screaming voice behind him stopped him in his tracks.

"Jack?" Kate hurtled through the crowd. "Jack, Ellie?" Seeing Ellie lying listless tears fell down her face. "Ellie, Ellie sweetheart it's ok." She took Ellie's hot, limp hand in hers and stroked her fingers. "What are you going to do?" she asked Jack, eyes shining with tears.

"We need to bring the fever down." Jack answered, walking into the black water. He knew it should have been freezing cold, but he couldn't feel anything; he was numb. He waded in deeper, Kate tight to his side until they were waist-deep. Slowly he lowered Ellie into the ocean, feeling her burning-hot body tense as it hit the water. He instructed Kate to tip water over Ellie's head to try and cool her down. As the water hit her forehead Ellie gasped, taking in a huge breath of air. Her eyes snapped open, terrified. Her arms instinctively wrapped around Jack's neck and he held her so tight he thought he might leave a bruise.

* * *

"She looked a lot better today." Kate said, standing at the doorway and watching Ellie sleep. Jack had been giving her antibiotics for the past three days and it had brought her fever almost totally down, and her cough was gone. She was getting fed up of staying in the hatch all the time. Even though she wasn't feeling totally healthy, being cooped up wasn't exactly fun.

"Maybe tomorrow we could take her down to the beach for a few hours" Jack said, "She's going crazy in here." He smiled, remembering when he had gotten into the hatch that morning to give Ellie her meds. He had found her in the living room, arranging all of the books and records in the into alphabetical order. When he had asked her why exactly she was doing it she had replied, "There's nothing better to do."

"I think she'd like that, she hasn't seen Noah since..." Kate's voice trailed off when she saw Jack's face cloud over at the mention of Noah's name. "Jack, I really think you need to let it go."

"Let it go? They were in his tent. In the middle of the night. Together." Jack said forcefully.

"She stayed with him because I was going to be on duty all night! She didn't want to be on her own! They weren't doing anything." Kate said in Ellie's defence.

"So they say. We don't know what they were doing."

"_They weren't doing anything!_" Kate hissed. "She's seventeen Jack. Don't you remember being seventeen?" Jack stopped in his tracks, staring at her.

"Yeah I do. But I also remember being twenty-two and I don't want her to get hurt. I mean, Jesus, Kate. When I saw her lying on the ground the other night...I couldn't breathe. I thought he'd...I thought she was-

"I know," Kate whispered softly, her hand coming up to rest on Jack's cheek. She looked into his eyes, "Noah wouldn't do anything to hurt Ellie, he adores her, you've seen the way he looks at her." She laid her lips against his in a gentle, practised kiss.

"I just don't want anything to happen to her."

"And that is exactly the way a father is supposed to feel." Kate said, eliciting a smile. "You're a good dad."

"You're not exactly a bad mom." He replied, and this time he initiated the kiss.

* * *

"You sure know how to scare a guy." Noah said, placing a gently kiss on Ellie's forehead. They had been walking around the camp, hand-in-hand, for almost ten minutes. Jack and Kate were the other side of the beach, talking with Rose and Bernard.

"Sorry." She said, "I didn't exactly mean to do it, did I?"

"Yeah well. I'm just glad you're ok." Noah said,

"Yeah. Those pills Jack was giving me tasted like hell."

"If it didn't taste bad it wouldn't be good for you." Noah wrapping his arms around her waist. Ellie laughed as he kissed the tip of her nose.

"So. What did you tell them?"

"About what?" Ellie asked, confused.

"About why you were in my tent in the middle of the night." Noah said, raising his eyebrow.

"Oh!" Ellie laughed, understanding what Noah was talking about. "I think Jack's over it now. With Kate in the hatch that night and everything, if I'd been where I was supposed to be...He was a bit, well, angry to begin with, y'know, that I was with you, alone, in your tent. At night." Ellie smiled. "We had a very...interesting conversation yesterday."

"Interesting how?" Noah asked, slightly worried and envisioning all the ways in which it was possible for Jack, a surgeon, to kill him and make it look like an accident.

"Well when I spoke to Kate about it alone she was fine, once I had sworn that we were _just_ sleeping." Ellie said. "Jack took more convincing. It was quite sweet really, he was trying to hard not to embarrass me. But he's ok now. And he's not going to poison your food or smother you while you sleep. I promise." She laughed at Noah's expression. She took his hand again and snuggled into his side.

"You know, there is something good to come out of this." She said quietly.

"What's that then?" Noah asked absently, running a thumb over Ellie's fingers.

"We're officially allowed sleepovers now."


	18. Shadows

"I can't sleep." Ellie said, poking Noah in the ribs. He grunted in reply. "Noah." Ellie persisted. "I can't sleep. Talk to me." Noah put his hands over his head, groaning;

"El, it's the middle of the night. Close your eyes and go.to.sleep."

"Talk.to.me." Ellie mimicked his forceful tone. She reached under his shirt, placing her cold hands on his back. He jumped at the change in heat and relented.

"What's wrong?" he asked, rolling onto his side. He could barely make out his girlfriend's face in the night, the only light available was from the campfire outside, and even that was fading.

"I told you, I can't sleep."

"But why? Are you feeling ok?"

"Yes. I don't know. Something's different. I don't know what it is." Ellie snuggled down under the covers, wrapping Noah's arm around her middle.

"You have really cold hands." Noah complained mildly.

"And yet, you love me anyway." Ellie giggled. Noah kissed her nose affectionately.

"Strangely enough, yes."

* * *

"I spy, with my little eye, someone beginning with A. Oh, look! Aaron! Hello there! How are you? What? I can't hear you." The little boy looked up at Ellie, a confused giggle issuing from his mouth. He was sat in front of her, his chubby hands in hers. She was babysitting while Claire and Charlie were on duty in the hatch.

"Hey." Noah said, coming up with a hollowed out coconut in his hand. Inside were roughly cut pieces of fruit. "Grub's up." Aaron got cautiously to his feet, wobbling slightly and gripping tighter onto Ellie's hands.

"There had better not be any grubs in there." Ellie half-joked, not taking her eyes off of Aaron.

"Well aren't we funny today." Noah set the bowl down on the sand next to Ellie, and Aaron's eyes lit up.

"Sorry." She said, passing Aaron a piece of mango. He took it eagerly, and sucked on it, the juice dribbling down his chin. "Mucky pup." Ellie swiped the juice away with her thumb. Noah sat down on the sand next to her, resting his arm behind her back.

"What's going on with you?" he asked, almost worriedly.

"I don't know. I just, it feels like something's different."

"Like, different with you?" Ellie shrugged slightly and a thought entered Noah's mind.

"You aren't...? I mean, could you be...?" he stammered.

"No. I'm not." Ellie replied forcefully.

"Ok then so what do you mean, something's different?"

"It's just a feeling. It's probably nothing, it just feels like something's changing, around the island y'know?"

"Not really." Noah said, handing Aaron another piece of fruit.

"Exactly. It's not worth fussing about. It'll go away."

"You're sure you don't wanna talk about it?"

"I told you, I'm fine." Ellie kissed Noah quickly, and Aaron giggled.

* * *

"Dude do you see that?" Hurley asked, pointing out at the horizon.

"That? That would be the sun." Ellie answered, laughing.

"No, I mean _that_" Hurley said, directing Ellie's gaze to a tiny shadow on the horizon. It was hard to see because of the bright light of the sunset, but it was definitely there. "Is that what I think it is?"

Well that depends on what you think it is. But if you think it's what I think you think it is, then yeah. I think it is what you think it is." Ellie could feel her heartrate pounding as she looked at the little silhouette steadily growing.

"Dude, you're babbling." Hurley said nervously.

"I know. Do you think we should tell someone?"

"Yeah. Yeah I think we should. I mean, even if it isn't what we think it is, it still might be."

"Exactly. Let's go." Ellie and Hurley got to their feet and looked up and down the beach.

* * *

"Jack?" Ellie asked quietly, approaching him, Hurley close behind her.

"Yeah? Is something wrong?" He asked, touching Ellie lightly on the shoulder. Her face was white as a sheet and she was shaking slightly.

"Do you see that?" She turned and pointed to the horizon, and the little shadow which was getting bigger by the minute. Jack paled and swallowed anxiously.

"Oh My God."


	19. Rescue

"Sir, I think you'd better take a look at this." Stephen Rawley handed over his binoculars. Captain Walker took the proferred item and held them up to his face. What he saw through the magnified lenses astounded him; in the distance, barely visible despite the binoculars, was a group of people – maybe forty or so – waving frantically.

* * *

"It's definitely coming closer. You can see the funnel-chimney things!" Charlie chattered excitedly.

"Are you sure?" Hurley asked, not able to see the ever-growing silhouette of the cruise liner in the dusk.

"Definitely. All we need to do is wait and they'll be here."

* * *

They waited all night, taking it in turns to sleep and keep watch on the cruise liner as it slowly neared the island. Finally, as the early morning sun rose behind them all of the survivors could clearly see the enormous cruise liner a few hundred meters off shore, where the water was deep enough. They sat in small groups on the beach, talking nervously and excitedly. And then, from around the side of the ship, a small life-boat appeared. People got to their feet as it approached their beach and grounded against the wet sand. Inside the boat were four people; the captain of the cruise liner, the ship's doctor and two members of the crew. They clambered out of the lifeboat, mouths wide open in shock at what they were seeing; more than forty people, dirty and dishevelled standing in a crowd. The four men approached them, and Jack took a step forward, his mind buzzing as he tried to think of words to describe what the hell had happened to them.

* * *

"You've been surviving here for all this time?" Captain Walker asked again. He still couldn't believe it; hope of finding the survivors of Oceanic 815 was something that seemed to have been abandoned by the whole world. Searches for the missing plane, it's passengers and crew had been carried out for almost two months but it had been as good as useless from the beginning. Contact had been lost with the plane when it was in the air, no-one knew where it could have gone down. And yet, here he was, sat interviewing Dr. Jack Shepherd, the spinal surgeon who had been transporting his father's body back to Los Angeles.

"How long has it been?" Jack asked, supporting his head in one hand. The adrenaline that had rushed through his system (and everyone else's) since they had spotted the cruise liner the night before was suddenly gone and he was left feeling drained and overwhelmed.

"Since the crash?" Captain Walker replied gently, sensing Jack's exhaustion. Jack could barely nod.

"Almost 10 months," Captain Walker answered, "Welcome to June 2005." Jack smiled weakly, feeling a wave of tiredness rush over him again and Captain Walker laid a comforting hand on his arm.

"You should get some rest. Mr. Marshall will show you to a room."

* * *

"Jack?" Jack heard the familiar voice even through his deep sleep. A gently knock on the door roused him further. He groaned slightly and looked at the clock on the cabinet beside his bed. It was almost 4.30 in the afternoon – he had slept for almost the whole day. He felt the softness of his bed – a real bed, not some airline chair or that pathetic excuse for a bunk in the hatch. Reluctantly he eased himself up. Padding over the carpet, (carpet!) he laid a hand on the door handle, turning it and pulling the door open a crack. Standing in the corridor in front of him, wearing a pair of pale blue cotton pyjamas was Kate. In spite of his tiredness he grinned to see her, freshly washed and with slightly damp hair, wearing clean clothes for the first time in he didn't know how many months. As hard as Rose had tried, with a limited supply of washing powder and no real washing machine, it was hard to get clothes properly clean.

Kate smirked back, sidling past him and settling herself onto his bed, lying back slightly and resting her head on his pillows.

"Where'd you get the jammies?" Jack asked, sitting next to her. Kate laughed,

"I could ask you the same thing!" Jack glanced down and for the first time realised that instead of the jeans and grey-ish t-shirt he had been wearing when they were rescued, he was wearing dark grey sweat pants and a bright-white wifebeater.

"Huh." He muttered, trying to remember getting changed. Seeing Jack's puzzled expression Kate helped him out;

"The passengers on the cruise all donated clothes for us. And rooms; as far as I know they're bunking up so we all get a room each."

"And you decided to bunk with me?" Jack joked.

"I'm not used to sleeping on my own anymore. And as comfortable as the bed is, I ended up sleeping on the floor!" Jack laughed at her and she pushed him playfully. They fell into a kiss, the one familiar thing they had in this unfamiliar place. While she had tried to make light of sleeping on the floor, she really had been unable to get comfortable sleeping in the bed. It felt so foreign, all of this did. Walking around in the clean pjyamas, feeling thick carpet underneath her feet. Even simple things like brushing her teeth, and looking at herself in the mirror – they should have only take seconds, minutes, but she found herself moving in slow motion, as if something inside her was terrified that if she moved too fast she would suddenly jolt awake and it would all be a sick and twisted dream. The shower had been more than welcome and she had stood for what felt like hours underneath the deliciously hot water, washing her hair over and over again, relishing the feeling of washing away the dirt that had accumulated from the eight months on the island.

A knock on the door interrupted them and Jack pulled away. He sat up, pulling Kate with him. She smoothed down her hair and tried to breathe more slowly.

"Come in." Jack called and the door opened tentatively. Ellie entered, hair damp like Kate's – she too had taken an extra long shower – but tied into two plaits either side of her head. She was wearing a floor-length white skirt and a pale green tanktop, and white crochet pumps. The two necklaces she had worn on the island; her locket and her name-chain, were hanging around her neck.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked, noticing Jack and Kate both sitting on the bed.

"No, of course not."

"They're serving dinner downstairs in ten minutes. You should both get dressed." Jack looked around him, trying to find his clothes. Ellie pointed to the chair by his dresser, where a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a sweater had been folded and left, a pair of his size sneakers placed on top of them. "I'll see you in a bit." Ellie smiled and left the room, leaving the door open slightly behind her.

* * *

"Can you believe this?" Noah asked, helping himself to a third plateful of chicken and vegetables. Ellie shrugged non-commitally. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Her plate was still practically full, she'd just picked at the chicken and pushed the rest of the food around the plate. He laid a hand on hers underneath the cover of the dining table and squeezed her fingers reassuringly; knowing what she was feeling. He followed her gaze to the corner of the room where Jack and Kate were conversing with the Captain. Jack held Kate protectively around the middle, and they were both nodding with what seemed like relief at what he was saying.

Captain Walker had agreed to give the survivors privacy from the cruise passengers, and as well as assigning them their own bedrooms all on the same floor, he had set aside two of the larger lounges as their communal rooms – none of the other passengers would be permitted to enter. Dining tables had been moved into one of the rooms, and this was where most of the survivors were now, chatting and relaxing – finally able to entertain the thought of getting back to their old lives. Five people were missing from the room; Rose, John Locke, Claire and baby Aaron and a heavily pregnant Sun were all in the medical wing being observed by the ship's doctor. He believed that they were all in fine health, miraculously, but wanted to be sure.

"Excuse me, if I could have your attention please?" Captain Walker announced clearly to the room. Everyone hushed, and Jack and Kate walked over to where Ellie and Noah were sitting. Ellie moved to sit on Noah's lap, and Kate took her seat. Jack sat in the empty chair next to her, his fingers laced with hers.

"We have changed course and are heading to Los Angeles. We should be there within a week, weather permitting. In the mean time, I have contacted the United States Coastguard and they are controlling things back in LA – all of your families are being notified that you have been found and they will be waiting for you when we dock. I hope you all get a good night sleep, please don't hesitate to ask a crew member if you need anything; anything at all. Thank you." Captain Walker nodded imperceptibly at Jack and Kate, and left the room. The air buzzed with excited conversation, the only people who were silent were Jack, Kate, Ellie and Noah. Ellie, still seated on Noah's lap was shaking like a leaf, tears falling down her cheeks. Kate also, was crying, struggling not to make a scene. Jack, though on the edge of breaking down himself, let his doctor's insticts take over and he and Noah led Kate and Ellie out of the dining room and towards Jack's room.

* * *

"I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail." Kate kept repeating, as if she couldn't quite believe it, and saying it over and over again would somehow make it seem more real. Jack held her tighter.

"No, you're not." Even though they were both in shock he still felt elated. When Captain Walker had asked to speak to Kate privately he had felt his heart sink. Kate had taken a hold of his hand and he had followed her, listened as the Captain told Kate that he had been in contact with the U.S. Marshalls, and they had held a hearing. He had held Kate upright as her legs went weak and had asked Captain Walker to repeat himself when he said that the hearing had decided to drop all charges against her.

"Ellie?" Kate asked, snapping out of her reverie long enough to notice Ellie, huddled against Noah on the floor of the room, his arms tightly wrapped around her, soothing her as much as he could. Ellie barely noticed Kate saying her name, she was crying too hard. "Ellie?" Kate asked again, moving across the room to the teenager. Noah loosened his hold on her and Ellie went slightly limp at the loss of contact. Kate lifted Ellie's chin, forcing Ellie to look at her.

"Why are you crying?" she asked quietly, leading Ellie to the bed and sitting her down in the middle of it. Ellie drew her knees to her chest and tried to stop crying, gulping down air but coughing instead. Kate wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl, just as she had all those months ago when Ellie had first arrived on the island.

"I don't...I haven't...he said." Ellie stumbled over her words. Jack and Noah, sat on the edges of the bed – close to the two women but apart from them at the same time.

"You don't what?" Kate's voice was barely more than a whisper. Ellie took a deep breath and tried again.

"He said...he said that..families would be waiting. He said they'd be waiting for us but he's wrong. There isn't anybody waiting for me. I don't have a family." Ellie broke down into further sobs and Kate held her tighter, holding Ellie's chin in her hands and again forcing the young woman to look at her.

"You have us."

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Ok, so that was chapter 19 of 20 - I have one more chapter to go. I really really hope you liked this chapter (and the story) and would very very muchly appreciate reviews!!! Please and thank you!!! Sarah 


	20. Epilogue

It's the last chapter :'( ...

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Staring out of the window I felt my heartbeat rising, blood rushing to my cheeks. I could hear my pulse, pounding heavily in my ears. Outside, on the dock, what looked like a sea of people were gathered. There must have been hundreds of them, thousands even. Photographers and journalists and TV cameras all straining to get the one-in-a-million shot of the mysterious survivors of flight 815. Behind me, people who I had come to know well were milling around the large dining room. I could practically taste the excitement in the air. I felt a hand rest protectively on my hip, and leaned backwards against Noah, not taking my eyes off of what I could see through the window.

"They're like vultures." He said, wrapping his arms tightly around me and holding me close against him. I tried to answer him, but no words came out. He kissed my neck, understanding. "You ready to go?" he asked me, and I felt my hand take his, letting him lead me through the crowd towards Jack and Kate. We had been told earlier that morning that our families would be waiting in a nearby hotel, and we were going to be bussed there from the dock. The press, we had been told, were not allowed to speak to us, they were just there to get their pictures. For now.

Kate reached out and took my other hand, squeezing it reassuringly. Jack laid one of his hands briefly on my shoulder, looking me in the eye. I tried to smile a little bit, but Noah and Jack, try as they might, couldn't understand what was going through my head or Kate's. She understood, perfectly, what I was feeling– they both had family waiting for them. We didn't. I squeezed back gratefully. Captain Walker, stood on the other side of the room, cleared his throat. Standing near to him were a Detective, and some representatives from Oceanic. Everyone hushed and listened to what he had to tell us.

* * *

"Getting back to normal." That's what we were told to use our compensation money for. Oceanic gave out a total payment of almost $100 million, shared between everyone who had survived the crash. Most people used the money to get away - from the press, from the constant attention. From the fact that for us, real life had ceased to exist and now suddenly we were thrown back into it, and expected to perform like animals in some sadistic kind of circus. Some people invested their money, in the stock market – not caring what shares they bought so long as the money was gone. It felt like blood money, being paid for surviving what other people hadn't.

As for getting back to normal, that had to be the most ridiculous thing anyone ever said. Normal comes in different ways. Being able to get up in the morning and your first thought not being, why aren't I in a tent? Ironing clothes and not thinking, why am I doing this? Being able to sleep in a bed for a whole night, rather than having to haul pillows and quilts onto the floor because you aren't used to being comfortable.

Normal does exist, don't get me wrong. But normal as we all knew it before the crash; that was gone. We all had to make our own version of normal, it was easier for some than for others, and for me, it took a long time coming. But when it happened, it happened in an instant, when the stick turned blue.

* * *

Ellie Roberts sat staring out of the window, something she did whenever she couldn't sleep. At the moment, that was quite often and she spent more hours than she cared to count sitting in the padded window-seat, her back leaning against the cool wall and clutching an overstuffed yet squidgy cushion to herself. Sometimes, she tried to count the stars, and after the first thirty or so she would find her eyelids getting heavier and would sneak back into bed, trying not to wake her husband. Sometimes, she didn't want to count the stars, but look at them. Just, look at them. It was comforting to think back to when she'd lain on her back, unable to let sleep claim her, staring up at the stars above her. Despite it being almost five years to the day since the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 had been rescued, sometimes she still felt like that overwhelmed seventeen year old girl struggling to breathe in what felt like a world with no oxygen. Staring at the stars, the same stars she had stared at during those long nights was a comfort more than any words could express.

A light buzzing sound broke through her silence and her eyes darted to her dresser, where her cell-phone was charging. The bright white light that shone from the screen made her eyes water in contrast to the darkness of the room, and slowly she eased herself off the windowseat and tiptoed as quietly as she could to pick up the phone. Flipping it open, she didn't even have to whisper a greeting as she heard the familiar voice.

"Go back to bed." Sawyers voice scolded down the line, his voice a whisper. Ellie stole a glance at Noah, lying sleeping peacefully on his side, his arm stretched over the place where Ellie usually lay beside him.

"I can't sleep." She whispered back, walking quietly out of the bedroom and down the hallway, her hand running along the wall so she knew where she was going. At the end of the corridor she paused before reaching a hand out and turning the door handle.

"I didn't say go to sleep, I said go to bed. You need rest." Sawyer's voice returned.

"You aren't in bed." Ellie retorted, as much as anyone who is whispering is able to retort. She sat down cautiously into a white painted rocking chair, drawing a small yellow and green patterned quilt over her stomach and legs.

"First of all, time difference Driftwood, it's barely three pm over here." Ellie felt a small smile creep over her lips, as she heard Sawyer use her old nickname. "Second, I'm not the one who's eight months pregnant." Sawyer replied. Ellie looked at the room as she sighed. She loved this room, had loved it ever since the first time she and Noah had viewed it, just three months before their wedding. She loved the way it looked over the back yard and beyond, allowing whoever occupied it a constant view of the park behind the house, and if you looked very carefully you could see Jack and Kate's house five minutes away. She loved the wooden floorboards, now covered with thick, fluffy rugs. She had known even then that this room would shelter her and Noah's children.

A small cry issued from one of the cribs in the corner, and Ellie rose as quickly as she could manage, clutching the corner of the quilt in one hand and her cell phone in the other. She approached her daughter quietly, so she didn't disturb her. Seeing her mommy's face appear made the thirteen month old girl immediately stop crying, and she smiled contentedly.

"Sawyer," Ellie said into the phone, "I'll call you tomorrow?"

"Go to bed." Sawyer replied, and Ellie heard him put the phone down. Ellie flipped her cell phone shut and slipped it into the pocket of her dressing gown. She leaned over the side of the crib and reached a hand in to stroke her baby daughter's cheek.

"Hi honey." She murmured. The little girl cooed, taking a hold of Ellie's four fingers in her own hand. She held tight as Ellie whispered a soothing lullaby. Her grip loosened as she fell back to sleep. Ellie covered her with her blankets and tiptoed out of the nursery towards her and Noah's bedroom. He was awake, having noticed the absence of Ellie beside him.

"You ok?" he asked as she rounded the bottom of the bed and slid in beside him. He lay back down and wrapped his arms protectively around Ellie's stomach, feeling their unborn son moving gently underneath his touch. Two children within two years had been a shock to both of them, especially since Ellie was still only 23. But, it was meant to be. Their daughter Siobhan, named after Ellie's mother, was adorable; she had a festival of curls and sparkling green eyes, just like Ellie. Jack and Kate's daughter, Holly, who had been born 8 months after the rescue, was a constant source of knowledge and entertainment. Their son Samuel, only three weeks older than Siobhan, was the best playmate she could have asked for. Ellie and Noah knew that their son, who they had already named Jack, would be just as loved as their daughter was.

"I'm fine," Ellie answered, snuggling into his warmth. "Just checking on our girl."

"I love you." Noah murmured, raising his body slightly to kiss her cheek.

"I love you too."

_The End_

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Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the story: xalicemx, CharmGirl15, nori12, A.L.Ross, BloodCoveredRoses, Stardate4.8.15.16.23.42, Kate Bridges, AimesLuvsTheMetallicar, LeynOnMe and ElleSexy.

I loved getting all your reviews and having all of your feedback. I'm sad that the story's finished but really glad people enjoyed it.

Please review the last chapter!! Sarah x


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